Europe's new contagion worries

The economic crisis in Europe is back, posing a new risk for the U.S. economy. The situation in Ireland is gray; the huge amount of debt is forcing the government there to take drastic measures. The Irish government announced an austerity plan of deep cuts in spending, a lower minimum wage and higher taxes. Spain is suffering from 20% unemployment and a decline in its tourism and construction industries. One thing is for sure if the crisis in Europe does not stop the US markets will be hurt too. EU is the second largest market for U.S. exports, behind only Canada. The U.S. exports to EU were $175 billion in the first three quarters of this year. That's up about 8% from a year ago.