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Yield curve models had them get short what? I am not sure I understand this...

There are a few candidates... Norway is probably one of the best, For one, it's the country with the safest sovereign debt in the world (according to CMA Datavision).

Cable - yours. Gilts - yours. This is exactly the sort of political nightmare that should have, hopefully, been avoided. Now the UK is likely to remain the utter fiscal trainwreck that it is for an indefinite period.

The 3m depo out of tom was trading arnd 2bps lower... BTW, Macro Man is ceasing transmission! He be moving to Greenwich, CT. It's a (not Greek) tragedy!

That's silly... The problems Greece faces obviously have nothing to do with one's political inclinations. Let's not trivialize the issues and bring up American "left/right" dichotomies.

The numbers posted by bearice are technically correct, but they are meaningless, as I keep saying in the other thread. Gross external debt is the total debt owed by the nation's households/corporates/govts to foreign creditors. If I am not mistaken, these numbers come from here...

Well, given what the other CBs have already done, no foreigner in their right mind should own either Treasuries or Gilts. How did someone put it? It's about who appears to be the best looking horse at the glue factory... Don't think the Eurozone is the worst, to be honest.

+1

What does it have to do with the Euro? The Euro is coming off, because the mkt is getting convinced that all this "sterilization" talk is rubbish... EZ peripherals are holding quite well here.

I might add that, yet again, Simon Johnson is spot on in his take on the most recent developments: http://baselinescenario.com/2010/05/10/eurozone-the-kitchen-sink-goes-in-now-it%E2%80%99s-all-about-solvency/ Which of his two alternative scenarios for the Eurozone you specifically deem more...

Well, Italy's current budget deficit is smaller than that of many other Eurozone countries, so, in terms of their burn rate, they're not doing too badly (in fact, Italy should be running a primary budget surplus this year). They have also done a lot more than other Eurozone countries in terms...

Well, arguably, Ireland, Spain and Portugal have tightened and are continuing to move in the right direction... For some anecdotal evidence, look here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7671505/Unlike-the-Greeks-the-Irish-are-facing-up-to-their-plight.html Greece is, of...

It sounds like a panic, because it is a panic. It is money creation, yes, but they're supposedly going to force countries into additional fiscal tightening, which is, by the same token, money destruction. As to who makes the profit, it's just not clear at the moment, since there are no details...

The rules have changed... And, supposedly, these purchases will be sterilized, so Axel isn't printing. Or so he says...

It's a nucular morning in Europe...

Sorry, been busy last week... The Fed engaged in a QE program during the crisis, as did the majority of Western central banks (BoE, SNB, ECB and BoJ). Whether this constitutes monetization of govt debt or a necessary response to a financial crisis is a matter of opinion. Your opinion is...

I have no idea... All I know is that "unpresidented" is the most awesome new word I have heard in a long long time!

Well, the first thing to mention would be that, apparently, it's illegal for a country to unilaterally exit the EMU. This is a view that's was formulated by the ECB legal counsel, Phoebus Athanassiou, in this working paper (I think I have posted a link in another thread a while ago)...

You misunderstand me, Misthos. I never said that the printing press can actually make a difference to a nation's fiscal situation. It can buy you time, but the state of the nation's finances is up to that nation's citizens/govts. If the UK follows the Irish example, rather than the Greek one...

There's been quite a lot written about it recently... One of the people I have personally heard talking about these things is Martin Wolf. There's also stuff by Marty Feldstein (who's been negative about the EMU since the beginning) and, possibly, Krugman. All of their writing is narrative...