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The OECD's relatively positive economic outlook , released earlier this week, presented Europe's struggles as much more worrying for the potential of the global economy than the fiscal cliff threat in the U.S. But as Dow Jones 's Nick Hastings reports, the two are not totally unrelated. Should policymakers in the U.S. not come to some agreement, then Europe is likely to feel a lot of economic pain:

After twelve hours of meetings in Brussels, European Union leaders have agreed to a 130 billion euro ($170 billion) bailout of Greece . This was seen as a last minute deal to stave off Greek default. But there is much work to be done. As Dow Jones 's Terence Roth tells his colleague Nick Hastings , this agreement was essential because it gives Greece's leadership just enough time to do all it must do to avoid collapse.

Few economists truly argued that austerity was a cure-all for Europe's debt woes (though we forgive anyone who interpreted news reports as suggesting just that), it was expected to be the answer for a lot of the problems in the region, and, to a certain extent, around the world. Heard on the Street Columnist Richard Barley says one big problem for Europe is that currently "solutions that might work are solutions that are politically unacceptable." Barley and Nick Hastings , of Dow Jones Newswires, discuss dropping confidence in Europe, the impact of the Euro slump on the global economy, and the central role that Germany must play in efforts to turn the corner: