EUROZONE: German Weber Appears Less Likely To Succeed Trichet In ECB.

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By Sakari Suoninen/
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          Bundesbank President Axel Weber, 53,
(Pictured) may be blowing his sizable lead to succeed ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet in 2011 after repeated attacks on the ECB's handling of the euro-zone debt crisis.
    Weber believes the program only backstops indebted national governments, rather than encouraging them to get their finances in order.
    "Weber's odds are around 50% now," says German professor Stefan Gerlach. Before May, Gerlach says, he would have placed his chances at about 90%. (From WSJ)
   The well-recieved blog "Coulisses de l'Europe" (behind the scenes of Europe) written by Jean Quatremer, Brussels correspondent of France's Liberation newspaper, said the "highest level of the French government" was determined to block Weber.
    But in Germany, his comments are popular-- the German government is not complaining," says ING economist Carsten Brzeski. "For me he is still the number one candidate...He has the backing of the German government, and this is the most important thing."