Quick Overview

• Stiglitz: "We don't know the kinds of exposures to say European [credit default swaps] American banks have," he says. There are rumors that as much as 50% of European sovereign bonds are insured thru CDS by American banks, he notes. "But we don't really know." As was the case in 2008, the lack of knowledge of what's on bank balance sheets poses the risk of banks refusing to lend to other banks, Stiglitz says. "If one of these countries has a real difficulty [interbank lending] markets will freeze up."

• Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: The prospects of these youth in London are as dismal as those of young people in Cairo or Sana'a: They need unemployment benefits, odd jobs, state handouts and perhaps a bit of petty crime to stay afloat. The message to the British underclass couldn't be any clearer: Born poor, you will remain poor and that naturally also applies to your children and grandchildren. Your chances of winning the lottery are greater than breaking out of your class."

• Violence erupted on the streets of Chile's capital and other cities as tens of thousands of students staged another protest demanding changes in public education.Masked demonstrators burned cars and barricades, looted storefronts...

• Australia's consumer confidence fell in August to 89.6, its lowest level since May 2009.

• (Reuters) - Investors pulled the most money out of U.S. mutual funds in the week ended August 3 since the depths of the stock market collapse in March 2009, with net redemptions of $16.9 billion, data from the Investment Company Institute showed on Wednesday.