`Euro Zone' Nations Jump The Gun  December 14, 1998  The new
European Central Bank doesn't officially take the helm to steer
monetary policy for 11 European countries until Jan. 1, when the
new Euro currency begins to replace all those francs and marks
and lira.  But the member nations gave their fledgling central
bank an early--and auspicious--bon voyage present earlier this
month when they engineered a surprise, coordinated cut in
interest rates.  Germany, France, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Finland, Spain, Ireland and Portugal all lowered a
key interest rate to 3 percent, from a previous range of 3.2 to
3.75. In Italy, where the rate had been 4 percent, it was
dropped to 3.5 percent. The "Euro zone" action even prompted
rate cuts in nations--like the Czech Republic and Denmark--that
won't be charter members of the European Monetary Union but may
eventually gain entree.  Lower interest rates are good news for
Europe, of course, where ripples from the Asian financial crisis
already have reduce