STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NPR's business news starts with predictions for 2012.
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INSKEEP: Director of the International Monetary Fund says this year will not be the end of the euro currency, despite the debt crisis in Europe. Christine Lagarde said during a visit to South Africa today that sovereign debt is a concern for many European countries, obviously. But the euro currency, she said, is solid.
The billionaire investor George Soros is not so sure. He's been quoted as saying today that what's happening in Europe is more serious and more threatening than the crash of 2008.