Prior to the IMF-led rescues of ailing Eastern European countries like Hungary, Latvia, and Romania, one of the oft-spoken interests for the EU in hastening the effort was the large volume of lending emanating from the likes of Sweden to these nations that would, in turn, be endangered in the event of sovereign default. And so it is that we are hearing similar noises about how much French and German banks, among others, have at stake in lending to the financially pigged-out EU members Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain. The graphic of an informative WSJ article on the subject matter pretty much says it all about the lenders and the lent to:
I think hair shirt masochists like Otmar Issing should keep these figures in mind. We are all Greeks now, buddy.
I think hair shirt masochists like Otmar Issing should keep these figures in mind. We are all Greeks now, buddy.
