The Economist (June 30)
Markets breathed a sigh of relief when Greece passed recent austerity measures, but the “new plan to cut Greece’s debt looks doomed to fail.” The plan is both too draconian and too light on real reform. “It does too little to prevent the epic folly of Greece’s railways and other ruinous schemes. It will screw down too hard on ordinary Greeks, with new taxes, spending cuts and a rushed privatisation scheme. And it will almost certainly condemn Greece to recession, strife and an eventual debt default.”
Time (June 28)
The deadline is nearing for the Greek parliament to decide whether to accept mandatory austerity measures and receive an EU bailout…or risk defaulting on sovereign debt. The unions are voicing their opinion with a strike. “Workers across Greece walked off the job Tuesday at the start of a 48-hour general strike as lawmakers debate a new round of austerity reforms designed to win the country additional rescue loans needed to avoid bankruptcy.” There won’t be long to wait. The vote is due on Thursday at the latest.
Financial Times (June 22)
“Bond investors are already pricing Greece’s government debt as though it has defaulted.” The Financial Times presents the four scenarios most likely to play out in the ongoing Greek saga: Disorderly default, Orderly default, Staggering on and Leaving the euro. None of them are pretty and the actual course will likely be revealed in the next few weeks.
“Bond investors are already pricing Greece’s government debt as though it has defaulted.” The Financial Times presents the four scenarios most likely to play out in the ongoing Greek saga: Disorderly default, Orderly default, Staggering on and Leaving the euro. None of them are pretty and the actual course will likely be revealed in the next few weeks.
Time (June 16, 2011)
A year of austerity has left many Greeks nearly broke or unemployed, “and the debt-ridden country no better off.” Greece now has the ignominy of holding the world’s lowest debt rating, following S&P’s most recent downgrade on June 13. Athen’s Syntagma Square (Constitution Square) has become the daily scene of protests and riots. The government appears near dead, with neither major party able to offer leadership. It’s difficult “to see any clear champion for the millions of Greeks struggling to get by.”
A year of austerity has left many Greeks nearly broke or unemployed, “and the debt-ridden country no better off.” Greece now has the ignominy of holding the world’s lowest debt rating, following S&P’s most recent downgrade on June 13. Athen’s Syntagma Square (Constitution Square) has become the daily scene of protests and riots. The government appears near dead, with neither major party able to offer leadership. It’s difficult “to see any clear champion for the millions of Greeks struggling to get by.”
Tags: Debt, Downgrade, Government, Greece, S&P, Unemployment
The Economist (June 9)The Economist (June 9)
By postponing difficult decisions about “the Greek mess,” Europe’s leaders are only creating future problems. “The rescuers think buying time reduces the risk of contagion from a Greek debt restructuring to other euro-zone countries. But the pall of an unsolved Greek mess will continue to hang over the euro zone, just as it has done for the past year.” Instead they should begin “an orderly restructuring of Greek debt now. That remains the only solution.”
By postponing difficult decisions about “the Greek mess,” Europe’s leaders are only creating future problems. “The rescuers think buying time reduces the risk of contagion from a Greek debt restructuring to other euro-zone countries. But the pall of an unsolved Greek mess will continue to hang over the euro zone, just as it has done for the past year.” Instead they should begin “an orderly restructuring of Greek debt now. That remains the only solution.”
Tags: Debt, Europe, Greece, Restructuring
The Telegraph (May 22)
Half the world thinks Greece should restructure its debt. The other half doesn’t. Prime Minister George Papandreou has come down firmly against any debt restructuring, but Greek citizens may think otherwise. Continued belt tightening could risk “further civil unrest. A poll published on Sunday showed 80pc of Greeks would refuse to make any further sacrifices to ensure continued EU and IMF support for the bail-out.”
Tags: Civil unrest, Debt, Greece, Restructuring, Sacrifice
New York Times (May 13)
A year after Europe’s leaders put together a $140 billion bailout packaged for Greece, they are now expected to propose “a further $86 billion dose of the same failed medicine.” They shouldn’t. Delaying the inevitable simply inflates the final bill. Greek debt needs to be restructured. “The longer Europe’s leaders hide from this fact, the bigger the eventual bill will be, and the longer Greeks will have to wait for renewed growth.”
Tags: Debt, Europe, Greece, Restructuring
Economist (May 12)
“If the stakes were not so high, Europeans’ incompetence in the euro-zone debt crisis would be comic.” A year after the Greek rescue began, there is still no end in sight. A new plan is long overdue, but instead “Europeans are bickering like children in a playground.” Call it what you will, it is time for a reprofiling or orderly debt restructuring.
“If the stakes were not so high, Europeans’ incompetence in the euro-zone debt crisis would be comic.” A year after the Greek rescue began, there is still no end in sight. A new plan is long overdue, but instead “Europeans are bickering like children in a playground.” Call it what you will, it is time for a reprofiling or orderly debt restructuring.
Tags: Debt, EU, Greece, Restructuring
Financial Times (January 27)
Japan is not facing the “dreadful dream” envisioned by Kaoru Yosano. Nor is S&P’s downgrade of Japan’s credit rating the next chapter in the global credit crisis. “Rather than a ‘dreadful dream’, Japan’s leaders face an enticing reality. They have the opportunity to issue more and more bonds at the lowest interest rates seen since the Babylonians invented accounting.”
New York Times (January 27)
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Japan’s debt from AA to AA-. No one is expecting an immediate crisis. Most of Japan’s debt is held domestically. Still the amount of debt is stupefying and there are troubling fundamentals. The Times writes, “The Japanese economy was tipped into a painful recession by the global financial crisis, and has only managed a very feeble recovery.” Deflation is jeopardizing this, as is “a rapidly aging population.” Japan’s greying population is also “raising the likelihood of ever-increasing social security and pension obligations.”
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Japan’s debt from AA to AA-. No one is expecting an immediate crisis. Most of Japan’s debt is held domestically. Still the amount of debt is stupefying and there are troubling fundamentals. The Times writes, “The Japanese economy was tipped into a painful recession by the global financial crisis, and has only managed a very feeble recovery.” Deflation is jeopardizing this, as is “a rapidly aging population.” Japan’s greying populaiton is also “raising the likelihood of ever-increasing social security and pension obligations.”
