Former BOE Official Buiter Says Greece May Be First EU Default

[AllentownJake]

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Former Bank of England policy maker Willem Buiter said Greece may be the first major country in the European Union to default on its debts since the aftermath of World War II.

“It’s five minutes to midnight for Greece,” Buiter, who will join Citigroup Inc. as its chief economist next month, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “We could see our first EU 15 sovereign default since Germany had it in 1948.”

The EU’s economic affairs commissioner said late yesterday that officials are ready to help Greece with its budget deficit after concerns about its public finances sparked a rout in Greek government bonds. Fitch Ratings cut its rating on the nation’s debt yesterday to BBB+ and two other major ratings companies are threatening to follow.

“Default is not unavoidable,” Buiter said. “But unless there are radical fiscal actions, lasting cuts in spending and tax increases of at least 7 percent of GDP, the writing is on the wall” for Greece.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDMQfsXXnSqw&pos=2

Uh-oh

[anonymous171]

1. This might complicate things for the new socialist government. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Glad you caught that, Allentown.

I also caught that Buiter is heading over to Citigroup.
My my...just one big circle....uh...something or the other, ain't it?

[AllentownJake]

3. This was my favorite from today

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_091209.html

Oh its one big circle jerk.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Great minds and all that. I saw that report.

We seem to be reading much of the same stuff.
Sure wish there were a million more folks seeing the handwriting on the wall.

[AllentownJake]

5. Reading that stuff scares some

and makes others feel that the economy is attacking the President.

Went to the mall Monday night, never got a better parking space in my life, few people, fewer with bags.

January is going to be a hellish month when the sales data comes out.

[FarCenter]

6. For lots of stuff, e.g. flat TVs, the unit price is going down faster than the volume is going up

Lots of categories have the characteristic that the middle-priced or low-priced items are "good enough". For many years, a good desktop PC was about $2000 -- as new models came out they would slot in at $3000 and then slide down the price /performance curve to about $2000 in a year or so, and that was the "sweet spot". Now a basic PC for most stuff except video editing or gaming can be had for $500.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. This is good news. We want to buy a flatscreen monitor.

Scrooge was a spendthirift compared to us, so we are waiting until after Jan. 1 to check prices.