Dominoes

Banksters at work.

No, not the pizza.

Here is a good explanation of what's happening in Europe, if you just want broad, understandable explanations.

It is impossible to see the trend.  Greece was a legitimate mess and shouldn't have been let into the Euro.

But Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy were more or less OK, but got hit very hard by the housing bubble.

Then the markets responded by punishing their bonds because... they could.  I go back to this jackass and can't help but think that much of what ails Europe is this climate of unregulated international finance.  These monetary mercenaries have declared war on countries' bonds because they can exploit unease over the economic conditions to create a vicious cycle.

By the time the whole thing collapses, they will have made their fortunes and moved on.