Prior to the Euro, lending to Greece earned you an eye-popping 18% – that is if it could ever pay you back… Of course the high interest rate was due to its lack of creditworthiness… Upon entering the Eurozone, the same country (same economy, same stupidity) suddenly got to borrow at 4%…
So of course its socialist policymakers used that once in a lifetime opportunity to get their country’s fiscal house in order, right? Well of course they did NOT! They instead went on a borrowing binge and grew their government to a place where even today’s bailout offers little hope of anything other than an eventual debt restructuring – i.e., default… The EU is praying that it can postpone the inevitable to a time when its members’ banks can better handle it…
Wall Street of course loves today