When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do? -- John Maynard Keynes

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Denial is a river . . . in Europe, part 2

Previously I posted Denial is a river . . . in Europe (part 1); now for part 2:

Europe’s Two Years of Denials Trapped Greece - NYTimes.com: "THE warning was clear: Greece was spiraling out of control.
But the alarm, sounded in mid-2009, in a draft report from the International Monetary Fund, never reached the outside world.
Greek officials saw the draft and complained to the I.M.F. So the final report, while critical, played down the risks that Athens might one day default, with disastrous consequences for all of Europe.

What is so remarkable about this episode is that it wasn’t so remarkable at all. The reversal at the I.M.F. was just one small piece of a broad pattern of denial that helped push Greece to the brink and now threatens to pull apart the euro. Politicians, policy makers, bankers — all underestimated dangers that seem clear enough in hindsight. Time and again over the last two years, many of those in charge offered solutions that, rather than fix the problems in Greece, simply let them fester. . . . "



 

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