Angry in Athens

By 12/31/13 the Greek economy will be 30% smaller than it was in 2008! And, it may not be done shrinking. Thus, the most recent Greek bailout is simply the latest “fix” with more to come! Worse, this tragedy becomes more costly the longer the wealthy nations ignore reality and pretend Greece can “grow out”…

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Next Time it’ll Hurt More

Hard as it was, the recent Greek default was easy because Greece just stiffed private banks and hedge funds. Next time – yes, next time – it will be harder. This is because most of Greece’s debt is now held by the IMF, the ECB and many European nations who lent directly, or via the…

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Return to Drachma

Greece must leave the Euro! Argentina (Arg) shows why. From ’98 through ’01 Arg was in a bad recession; the Peso was pegged to the USD. Arg borrowed from the IMF cut spending and the economy tanked. Then Arg defaulted on its foreign debt. The economy shank a bit but has been great since. In…

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Borrowing and Bail

Borrowing costs for Portugal, Ireland and Greece have hit highs amid concern that Europe will not take action to dispel fears of sovereign defaults. Long term rates for Spain came close to setting a record and Italy’s cost rose above 5% for the first time since 11/08. Portugal was forced to pay a much higher…

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