With continued worries over budget crises in the “PIIGS” (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) and their rapidly deteriorating fiscal conditions, the future of the euro zone’s common currency has been called into question. Most of attention has focused on Greece, where double digit budget deficits threaten to grind the government to a halt and spread throughout the region. While some are pushing for a Greek bailout, others worry about the signal this action might send to other troubled economies across the Mediterranean. Greece’s richer counterparts certainly aren’t happy about the idea of a bailout, especially in Germany where in a recent poll 53% demanded that Greece be thrown out of the euro zone if they can’t solve their problems without outside funding.

Some are even calling for the end of the euro or are pushing for stronger members, such as France and Germany, leave the common currency before it drags down their economies too. On the other end of the spectrum, some economists have proposed that weaker countries, such as Spain, could actually benefit from leaving the euro zone. Such a move would permit a devaluation that would instantly increase global competitiveness and spur the national economy.

Stocks are on the anemic side this morning, as the MSCI World Index dropped the most on major concerns, taking the euro down with it. Can related exchange traded funds spread this risk out for investors holding them?

A surprise increase in jobless claims and concerns about Europe’s debt have taken the MSCI World Index, an index of 23 countries, down to its lowest level in four months. The euro sank 0.8 % to $1.3781 against the dollar, the lowest since June 16, report Rita Nazareth and Gavin Serkin for Bloomberg. iShares MSCI ACWI Index (ACWI) is down 3% so far today.

Through the eyes of an investors, the consumer sector of the global economy is generally split into two segments: consumer staples and consumer discretionaries. Consumer staples stocks generally include those that manufacture and sell goods that are vital components of most household budgets, such as food and non-durable household goods. Companies producing goods that are deemed to be more of a luxury spend are classified as consumer discretionary stocks.

Historically, investors looking for low beta have gravitated towards consumer staples, while those looking to make a leveraged play on the health of the broad overall economy have embraced the consumer discretionary sector. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) has a beta of 1.11 relative to the S&P 500, compared to only 0.49 for the Consumer Staples SPDR (XLP).