Krugman: The Spanish Prisoner

[n2doc]

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: November 28, 2010


The best thing about the Irish right now is that there are so few of them. By itself, Ireland can’t do all that much damage to Europe’s prospects. The same can be said of Greece and of Portugal, which is widely regarded as the next potential domino.

But then there’s Spain. The others are tapas; Spain is the main course.

What’s striking about Spain, from an American perspective, is how much its economic story resembles our own. Like America, Spain experienced a huge property bubble, accompanied by a huge rise in private-sector debt. Like America, Spain fell into recession when that bubble burst, and has experienced a surge in unemployment. And like America, Spain has seen its budget deficit balloon thanks to plunging revenues and recession-related costs.

But unlike America, Spain is on the edge of a debt crisis. The U.S. government is having no trouble financing its deficit, with interest rates on long-term federal debt under 3 percent. Spain, by contrast, has seen its borrowing cost shoot up in recent weeks, reflecting growing fears of a possible future default.

more

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/opinion/29krugman.html?ref=opinion

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Your 'more' link goes to the screen for posting a new GD thread

How others DUer managed to recommend this as a 'greatest thread' with that problem, I'm not quite sure. The article looks interesting, but I think we need access before that can be said to be 'great' ...

[n2doc]

3. Let's see YOU do better first thing in the morning

fixed. Try being nice, it might surprise you

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Thank you

I thought I was being not nice to the recommenders, not to you ...

Recommended.

[hobbit709]

4. "The Spanish Prisoner" is one of the oldest cons around.

[TacticalPeek]

6. "The Spanish Prisoner is a confidence trick dating back to the late 19th century."

The Spanish Prisoner is a confidence trick dating back to the late 19th century.<1> In its original form, the con-man tells his victim (the mark) that he is in correspondence with a wealthy person of high estate who has been imprisoned in Spain under a false identity. The alleged prisoner cannot reveal his identity without serious repercussions, and is relying on a friend (the confidence trickster) to raise money to secure his release. The confidence trickster offers to let the victim supply some of the money, with a promise that he will be rewarded generously when the prisoner returns: financially and perhaps also by being married to the prisoner's beautiful daughter. However, once the victim has turned over his money, he learns that further difficulties have arisen, requiring more money, and the trickster continues attempting to get more money until the victim is cleaned out and the process ends, presumably with the victim realizing he has been defrauded and that there is neither a rich man, nor a reward coming to him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Prisoner

[Starry Messenger]

7. recommend.