The IMF’s latest Fiscal Monitor includes a colorful chart of who owns the debt of six countries with well-known debt concerns: The debt owned by foreign investors and foreign central banks are in red and yellow; the other colors represent debt owned domestically. Based on IMF’s accounting, the six countries come in three flavors: The “PIG” countries. Portugal, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Greece’
Indebted Countries Come in Three Flavors
Posted in Budget, International, tagged Debt, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, United Kingdom on September 26, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Merle Hazard Goes to the Parthenon
Posted in Finance, Macroeconomics, tagged Deflation, Greece, Humor, Inflation on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
… in Tennessee, that is. But he’s singing about Greek debt: Given all the recent discussion about inflation and deflation, let me also recommend Merle’s earlier hit, which includes my favorite lyric: “… will we be Zimbabwe or will we be Japan?” (So far, I think Japan is much more likely.)
Speculating on the Greek Crisis, Internet Edition
Posted in Internet, tagged Greece, Humor, Internet, Spain on May 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
At the recent Milken Conference, I attended a panel moderated by Mike “Zappy” Zapolin. His claim to fame? He struck internet gold by developing generic web domains like beer.com, music.com, and the all-too-timely debt.com. It’s much harder to follow in Zappy’s footsteps today since the obvious names are all gone. Except when new developments create [...]
Can Greece Cut Its Deficit by 10% of GDP, Part II
Posted in Budget, History, International, tagged Budget, Debt, Deficit, Greece on May 8, 2010 | 5 Comments »
As I noted a few days ago, some nations have managed even larger budget adjustments than the one that Greece faces today. Several commenters rightly noted, however, that this slim reed of hope becomes even slimmer when you consider other factors such as the pace of adjustment (Greece would have to cut very quickly) and its inability [...]
Can Greece Cut Its Deficit by 10% of GDP?
Posted in Budget, History, International, tagged Budget, Debt, Deficit, Greece, IMF on May 1, 2010 | 6 Comments »
Greece needs money fast. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and members of the Euro-zone have that money. But before they lend it to Greece (at very favorable interest rates), they are demanding that Greece get its fiscal house in order. As a result, Greece is proposing an austerity plan that would reduce its out-of-control budget [...]
Greece, the Other PIIGS, and “The Chastening”
Posted in Economy, Finance, History, International, Uncategorized, tagged Germany, Greece, IMF, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain on April 28, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Several colleagues recently suggested that now is a propitious time to read (or re-read) Paul Blustein’s “The Chastening.” The book recounts how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the G-7 nations struggled to combat the Asian, Russian, and Latin American economic crises of the late 1990s. Having read the book while flying back and forth [...]
Greece Starts Selling … But Not Corfu
Posted in Budget, International, tagged Debt, Greece, International on March 17, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Greece is ready to start selling assets, according to the Wall Street Journal, but Corfu and the Parthenon are not on the auction block (no surprise there). Instead, the government figures that by selling its stakes in a bank and a betting company, as well as its share of the national telecommunications company, it can [...]
What Assets Could the United States Sell?
Posted in Budget, tagged Budget, Debt, Greece on March 7, 2010 | 13 Comments »
Several German lawmakers hit a nerve last week with their suggestion that Greece sell some of its assets in order to cut its debts. The German newspaper Bild summarized this line of reasoning quite memorably: “We give you cash, you give us Corfu.” That zinger has prompted a cottage industry of possibly humorous efforts to [...]
The Spectre of Creative Bookkeeping
Posted in Budget, International, tagged Accounting, Budget, Debt, Deficit, Europe, Greece on February 22, 2010 | 3 Comments »
A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of creative bookkeeping. In an article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal (“Debt Deals Haunt Europe“), Charles Forelle and Susanne Craig provide more examples of the “aggressive” bookkeeping that European nations have deployed to satisfy the deficit and debt targets of the Growth and Stability Pact. Greece, [...]
How Governments Hide Their Liabilities
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Accounting, Budget, Debt, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Greece on February 14, 2010 | 10 Comments »
In my testimony to the Senate Budget Committee the other day, I recommended that Congress set specific fiscal targets for bringing our out-of-control deficits and debt under control. My particular suggestion? Get the publicly-held debt down to 60% of GDP in 2020. By budgeting standards, that makes for a great bumper sticker: “60 in 20“. [...]
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