But this hasn't prevented a stagnation of bank lending, the real cause of the region's economic torpor, just as in the UK.

One piece of good news is that Italy and Great Britain, long the laggards of Europe, have been able to escape the economic torpor.

Administration officials have attributed the economic torpor to the 1990's bubble in stock prices and business investment, the accounting scandals in corporate America and the uncertainty caused by the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Asia has long been seen as the best hope the heavily indebted countries of the West have to climb out of their economic torpor.

Mr. Schlinkert said Germans remained skeptical that Mr. Schröder's reform plans would jolt the country out of its economic torpor.

How could an election at a time of economic torpor be about nothing?

But will it banish our economic torpor?

But if the economic torpor continues, it will hard to push the jobless rate much below 7 percent - and to fulfill Mr. Clinton's goal of creating 8 million jobs in four years.

Going and Coming Albania is finding it is more difficult to dispel economic torpor.

After nearly three years of economic and political torpor, the Philippines has gained an unusual forward momentum.