Ian Martin of the Sunday Telegraph shares the contents of an email now circulating amongst traders.
We hear reassurances from ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings they have everything under control, that Spain and Greece, each with unemployment rates approaching twenty-five percent, are just fine nothing to see here move on and watch your football matches.
Italy? No Problem! We just installed our own guy there to run things for us.
Ireland? No Problem! We just stripped the country of its political and economic freedoms.
Portugal? Who Cares? It's just Portugal!
Just as a reminder of how these assurances ring increasingly hollow, the email offers this litany.
1. “Spain is not Greece.” (Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance minister, Feb. 2010.)
2. “Portugal is not Greece.” (The Economist, 22nd April 2010.)
3. “Ireland is not in ‘Greek territory.’” (Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.)
4. “Greece is not Ireland.” (George Papaconstantinou, Greek Finance minister, 8th November, 2010.)
5. “Spain is neither Ireland nor Portugal.” (Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance minister, 16 November 2010.)
6. “Neither Spain nor Portugal is Ireland.” (Angel Gurria, Secretary-general OECD, 18th November, 2010.)
7. "Spain is not Uganda" (Spanish PM, Rajoy to Luis de Guindos, economy minister… last weekend.)
8. "Italy is not Spain" (Ed Parker, Fitch MD, 12 June 2012.)
Hmmmm.....but they are allllll broke, because they alllll decided to run welfare states on borrowed money, and supported housing bubbles, and bail out the bankers when it all goes sour.
It really doesn't matter who they aren't. It does matter who they are, and whether the United States plans to follow in their footsteps.
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