- First we have Greece, last week Ireland..next could be Portugal….PIG
- And then could be..Spain…PIGS
- What next…
New York Times: November 27, 2010-They Are Not Like Ireland. Really.
- Now, attention has turned to other economies in the 16-member monetary union that are also burdened with high levels of debt, stagnant growth and rigid, overpriced labor markets. At the top of the list are Portugal and Spain.
To quell the anxiety and speculation, Europe’s leaders and its top thinkers have argued for the better part of this year that other countries would not follow in Greece and Ireland’s path.
Given their past statements, however, they may not sound all that convincing.
“Italy is absolutely not in the same situation as Greece.” Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, April 9
“What the Portuguese government wants the world to know is simpler: Portugal is not Greece.”The Economist magazine, April 22
“Portugal, Spain, Ireland or Italy are not in the same situation as Greece. And Belgium less yet.”Guy Quaden, governor of the National Bank of Belgium, May 7
“ ‘ Ireland is no Greece’ confirms latest economic forecast.”Ernst and Young, in its Economic Eye Summer Forecast, June 2010
"Greece is not Ireland; it doesn’t have banking stability problems.”George Papaconstantinou, finance minister of Greece, Nov. 8
“Our economy is very different from that of Greece or Ireland because our financial sector has benefited by the supervision and regulation of the Bank of Spain, which was missing in Ireland.” Elena Salgado, the Spanish finance minister in an interview in the British newspaper The Independent, Nov. 25
Bank failures in Ireland had “nothing to do with Portugal.” Ángel Gurría, secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in Bloomberg News, Nov. 22
“Portugal does not need any help, it is in a very different situation to Ireland.” Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, Nov. 23
