There are signs of stabilization in Europe this week, as highly successful debt auctions in Italy and Spain reassured investors and European Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank has averted a serious credit shortage and there are signs the economy is stabilizing. The European Central Bank continued buying an undisclosed amount of bonds to prop up the market. The negative side to all this is that in the face of even mild good news, policy makers may resist cutting interest rates further for now, and as we’ve seen over and over in the U.S., cutting rates is the best reassurance to investors of an active government that is willing to go to great lengths to avoid recession. The Bank of England missed one of these opportunities today when it kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.5%.