Greece defaults

Seeing the title "Greece defaults" made me things had taken a turn for the worse compared to news I'd heard earlier in the day, but no, this is just the title of an opinion piece. Other news articles are more nuanced, and in particular, the Wall Street Journal asks "What Constitutes a Greek Default? And Who Decides?": http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405311190346110457645...

Re: Greece defaults

#6

Post by narrator » Fri, Jul 22, 2011, 12:37 AM UTC

Caligula wrote: post #4

antimora wrote: post #3

is Greece in default or "kind of default"? I don't see in other headlines news.

It mentions that they are sort of forcing bond holders to accept a lesser payment. That seems like a kind of default.

Whether they defaulted or not is actually quite key. You see, all the CDS (Credit default swap) holders get to demand the full face value of the Greek debt they hold from the CDS seller if Greece has defaulted. The CDS writers are going to take a huge bath if this happens. This is what took down AIG, except in that case it was subprime MBS (Mortgage backed securities) CDSs that did it.

Re: Greece defaults

#7

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 22, 2011, 12:39 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Greece defaults

#8

Post by chailatte » Fri, Jul 22, 2011, 12:40 AM UTC

eegilbert wrote: post #2

Greece ^kinda defaults. More context in NYT, of course: http://nyti.ms/pyJ9Ho

Ah, yes. Cover your ears. Don't wanna scare the kids. More mass media brainwashing euphemisms.

Default -> Temporary/Kind of/Selective Default

Great Depression -> Great Recession

Worthless Mortgages -> Troubled Assets

Make dollar worthless -> Increase Liquidity

Re: Greece defaults

#9

Post by melvinng » Fri, Jul 22, 2011, 12:42 AM UTC

Finally, that took a while. Why didn't they do it earlier?

Re: Greece defaults

#10

Post by jackpirate » Fri, Jul 22, 2011, 12:42 AM UTC

chailatte wrote: post #8

eegilbert wrote: post #2

Greece ^kinda defaults. More context in NYT, of course: http://nyti.ms/pyJ9Ho

Ah, yes. Cover your ears. Don't wanna scare the kids. More mass media brainwashing euphemisms. Default -> Temporary/Kind of/Selective Default Great Depression -> Great Recession Worthless Mortgages -> Troubled Assets Make dollar worthless -> Increase Liquidity

Are you serious!?

You've got it exactly backwards: media hyperinflates things to sell and get people to watch. Our "great depression" as you call it right now is nothing like what happened in the 30s. Comparisons just serve to fear monger.