* The US non-profit organisation the Pew Research Centre carries out surveys of public opinion across the world. Its latest report shows how the financial crisis has affected public opinion in eight European countries - Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland and the Czech Republic.

* The survey paints a picture of economic pessimism, growing disenchantment with the EU and rising scepticism about the merits of further European integration. It is a sign of the times that the public in France, Greece and the Czech Republic have an even less favourable view of the EU than Europe's long-standing sceptics, the British.

* Germany is the exception to this picture. Germans are more positive about their economy than in 2007, while the public has turned significantly more negative in the other countries surveyed.

* The contrast between German and French public opinion is especially marked. 75% of Germans rate economic conditions as being "good"; just 9% of French people take the same view. Germans have a positive view of the EU, favour greater European integration and think that their leader, Angela Merkel, has handled the financial crisis well. Faced with the same questions French public opinion is uniformly negative, and far more so than a year ago.

* Outside Germany economic pessimism and political disillusionment are widespread. But such sentiment is probably less of a threat to Europe's established order than it seems.

* The Pew Survey provides no evidence of a groundswell of public opinion against the euro. On the contrary, in Greece, Spain, Germany, Italy and France support for continued membership of the single currency comfortably exceeds 60%. Support for the single currency has risen in the last year in Italy and Spain despite a deep and continuing recession.

* Equally, there is little evidence of a revolt against public sector austerity. Most voters see public debt as a problem. And when asked to choose between reducing public expenditures and more spending, most chose cuts in spending. Across the eight European countries surveyed a median of 59% of voters believe that reducing public debt is the best way to solve their country's economic problems. Only in Greece and Poland do a majority see higher public spending as a solution to their economic problems.

* The survey also testifies to the potential for surprises in any future UK referendum on membership of the EU. 46% of British respondents favour leaving the EU, exactly the same proportion as would chose to remain.

* An illuminated and amusing section of the Survey examines widely-held European stereotypes. The strongest result here was on trustworthiness, where, with the exception of Greece, the countries covered rated Germany as the most trustworthy nation (Greek voters see Greece as being the most trustworthy).

* Voters in Britain, Germany and France are united in the view that France is the most arrogant country. People in Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland and the Czech Republic see Germany as the most arrogant. In what seems to be an example of so-called home bias, voters considered their own country to be the most compassionate.

* Europe has been hit hard by a recession and rising unemployment. Scepticism about the EU and European integration is rife outside Germany. But European policymakers can take comfort from the fact that, by and large, voters support the single currency and do not think more public spending would solve Europe's problems. Europeans may not be terribly happy, but they do not appear to see many alternatives to the EU's current policies.

MARKETS & NEWS

UK's FTSE 100 ended the week down 1.0%.

Here are some recent news stories that caught our eye as reflecting key economic themes:

KEY THEMES

* Greek business sentiment hit a three and a half year high last month

* UK inflation fell to a seven-month low of 2.4% in the year to April, driven by lower costs of motor fuels and air fares

* Eurozone economic activity continued to contract in May, according to preliminary readings from purchasing managers data

* The International Monetary Fund said the UK government should consider further bringing forward infrastructure spending and improving tax incentives to boost growth

* Chinese industrial output contracted in May, the first fall since October, according to purchasing managers' data from HSBC

* Bank of England Director Paul Fisher said that the UK has worked its way through two-thirds of the debt overhang caused by the financial crisis, and will not return to 'trend' growth until this deleveraging is complete

* The Japanese Nikkei stock exchange fell by more than 7% in one day, before recovering much of these losses the following day

* The FT reported that the hunt for high-yielding assets means that so-called "cov-lite" loans have accounted for more than 50% of all leveraged loan issuance so far this year, twice the level seen during the credit boom in 2007.

* Britain came within six hours of running out of natural gas in March according to a senior energy official, in a period where supply-chain disruptions coincided with high demand for gas due to poor weather

* UK fashion brand Burberry reported a 14% rise in annual profits, driven by strong revenues growth in Asia

* German household consumption rose 0.8% rise in Q1 2013, preventing the economy from entering in to recession

* The UK's Co-operative bank announced that it would no longer offer any new corporate loans, while it attempts to plug an estimated £1.8bn capital shortfall

* The BBC has scrapped a digital archive and production system, designed to digitally share content across the corporation, at a cost of £98m

* The economist who coined the term "Grexit" said that says the possibility of Greece exiting the euro zone has receded "markedly", due to the improved stability of Greece's coalition government and an upgrade in growth expectations in the euro area

* Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve denied the US $85bn-a-month quantitative easing programme has inflated stock markets, saying that share prices are "not inconsistent with the fundamentals"

* Research from the London School of Economics showed that 10% of households in Britain had total wealth of £967,200 or more between 2008 and 2010

* Best-selling author Stephen King is to release his next book 'Joyland' in a paperback only format to encourage readers to visit book stores rather than downloading content - is paper back?

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.