Geithner: Threat of a European 'blowup' easing (by Greg Robb)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - European leaders are getting a better handle on the debt crisis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday. "European leaders are making some progress. They have got a ways to go, but they are starting to build more confidence around the world that they have got a plan in place that will at least avoid the prospects of financial catastrophe," Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee. "They seem more committed now to avoiding a catastrophe, an implosion, a blowup in Europe that would have a very adverse impact on the United States," he said. "That is a very good thing for us. Because it means that, even if growth in Europe is weaker than any of us would like, we are less likely to face the aftershocks of a sustained period of Europe living on the edge of crisis," he said. European nations still face "years and years" of difficult reforms, he noted.