Steve Chiotakis: Italy’s president today vowed to speed up reforms in that country, and make way for
a new government not led by Prime Minister Sylvio Berlosconi.

The uncertainty there — and in Greece, and other European countries — has rattled stock markets around the world.

And as Europe’s economy continues to sour because of all of that, the blow to American trade isn’t shared equally from coast to coast. Marketplace’s Jeff Tyler explains.

Jeff Tyler: Europe is an important trade partner for the U.S. But some regions are especially exposed.

Alan Berube is with the Brookings Institution.

Alan Berube: We export almost $300 billion worth of goods and $200 billion worth of services each year to Europe. So everybody would feel Europe turning down. It’s just that some places, especially on the East Coast, will feel it more than others.

Especially cities connected to the auto or drug industries.

Berube: Just look at things like pharmaceutical jobs in Indianapolis. The pace of growth in those industries have not really picked up recently, I think due in part to the softness that’s going on in Europe.

On the other hand, Berube says places like Allentown, Penn., are bucking the trend because of strong demand from South America. Similarly, the West Coast is somewhat insulated from Europe because it does more trade with Asia.

I’m Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.