My feeling is that the answer is no. You can make the argument that this is a coercive distressed exchange, and that coercive distressed exchanges are one way of defaulting. But default is a fraught word, and I don’t think it should be used lightly. In this case, when the exchange is genuinely voluntary for all but the Greek banks, it seems weird to call it a default. Especially when the bonds are trading at their all-time highs.
Category: Economics
Apple – After The Thrill Is Gone
As such, the thrill and excitement of extraordinary returns is simply not there anymore. And when the thrill of extraordinary returns is gone, then there is not a whole lot of reasons to hold onto the Apple. In which case, you are more prone to sell it than to hold on to it. In other words, you become trigger sell happy. I think that as more and more investors realize this, more and more will chose to sell.
Innovation Crisis or Financial Crisis?
In a forthcoming book, they argue that the collapse of advanced-country growth is not merely a result of the financial crisis; at its root, they argue, these countries’ weakness reflects secular stagnation in technology and innovation. As such, they are unlikely to see any sustained pickup in productivity growth without radical changes in innovation policy.
Strawberry Fields – Forever?
As John Lennon forewarned, it is getting harder to be someone, and harder to maintain the economic growth that investors have become accustomed to. The New Normal, like Strawberry Fields will “take you down” and lower your expectation of future asset returns. It may not last “forever” but it will be with us for a long, long time.
France Is Running Out of Time to Restrain Germany
So, the argument goes: from now on, Germany is only looking out for its national interests and it is not interested in Europe any more.
