The CEO Line on Europe

Want to see a grown American CEO develop a few more wrinkles? Ask him about what’s happening in Europe and whether we have something to fear here at home.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, talking to reporters Wednesday while in Asia: "I think we all do understand that the world economy is very linked and everybody is nervous that any problems that we might see in Greece (and) Europe will not be isolated in Europe.”

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, in comments made after giving the commencement address at Boston College on Monday: “In Europe, I think this is going to be solvable; it’s going to mean slow growth…Clearly there’s going to have to be some different assessment of budget. People are going to have to re-explore the boundaries of how they comport themselves.”

Larry Fink, chief executive of asset manager BlackRock Inc., speaking at a Reuters Insider newsmaker panel in New York: "We're frightened at this moment to see how this can all play out with these countries already in a fragile position…Now they're (Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal) going to have to bring down their deficits in the tens of billions of dollars to stabilize their country, but will that destabilize their social fabric?"

Roger Altman, founder and chairman of boutique investment bank Evercore Partners, speaking at the same Reuters event: "The really serious crises of the last 150 years tend to be long and drawn out and have several stages, including a sovereign debt stage…The global financial crisis is not over, and it's not close to being over, and there are probably other large shoes that can drop beyond Europe."