Whatever you say it is, it isn’t ~ Alfred Korzybski
IN OCTOBER 2011, private banks accepted a 50% writedown on Greek debt. European leaders negotiated the writedown to avoid a technical default.
It is surprising that ratings agencies did not classify the writedown as a default when you consider that S&P defines sovereign default as “the failure to meet interest or principal payments on the due date…contained in the original terms of the rated obligation when issued”.
In your author’s opinion, the writedown of Greek debt falls clearly within the S&P definition of sovereign default.
Undeterred however by rating agency definitions, European leaders have characterised the writedown as a voluntary “private-sector involvement” or PSI. This is clever politicking because a “private-sector involvement” sounds like a positive development. However, in reality, it means that private investors have lost 50% of their investment in Greek bonds.
European leaders are now using the same brand of financial wizardry which created the global financial crisis in the first place. Over the last few decades, countless risky financial products were sold to investors using harmless sounding terms like “credit default swap”, “mortgage backed security”, “special purpose vehicle” and “off-balance sheet financing”.
Characterising the writedown of Greek debt as “private sector involvement” is more of the same financial manipulation, but it is also shrewd politics. European leaders know that a Greek default could have devastating consequences for the Euro-zone.