Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Wrong Kind of Growth



Economist magazine notes:

Private-sector debt is not too concerning, with the exception of Ireland. Italy’s households owe less than Germany’s and its non-financial companies not much more... 
 But government debt looks more intractable. Between 2007 and 2013 government-debt-to-GDP in the euro area rose from 66% to 93%. The spike was more dramatic in the four troubled economies along Europe’s southern border: in Greece the ratio increased to 175% and in Portugal it virtually doubled, to 129%... as bond yields rise, servicing that debt becomes difficult, especially for countries like Italy, which has to refinance about one-fifth of its government debt each year.

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