More.. on Europe time bomb..

This has landed on my desk, I can't vouch for its accuracy.. but I thought it was interesting..

cheers
P.

View attachment 704

 

Paul
I've seen this diagram floating around.

I don't know if you're aware but the Eurozone countries are now more like states of a bigger country sharing a common currency.
So the question should be what's their net debt?

I've seen some figures but can't recall the % of their GDP
Europe isn't the problem IMO, the situation in the US is a lot worse.

 

The gamblers betting on Britain going bust

A small band of hedge funds is now building up a series of sizeable bets on Britain defaulting.
In the past few weeks, they have placed more than $3 billion worth of bets on that precise outcome in the credit default swap market.
History – three centuries without default – suggests that they will be proved wrong.
But these are unprecedented times.
Had Britain joined the euro, it would certainly have shared Greece's fate, and would have been too big to be bailed out.
Avoiding euro membership, however, will not guarantee that Britain avoids default. We cannot afford to be smug for ever.
more...The gamblers betting on Britain going bust - Telegraph

 

Not according to this Bill :-

Out of the world's 75 largest economies, the United States has the 20th largest as debt-to-GDP ratio, standing at 94.3%, with a gross external debt of $13.454 trillion and an annual GDP $14.26 trillion. In fact, out of the largest 75 economies, this number is just above the worldwide average of 90.8% Western-European and North American countries dominate the upper end of the spectrum, with Switzerland (422%) and the United Kingdom (408%) at the #2 and #3 spots, respectively, and Ireland representing the most drastic debt-to-GDP ratio. According to the most recent World Bank data, Ireland's number stands at a staggering 1,267%.

So, relatively, the United States' debt isn't all that bad.

See the full list here: News Headlines

 

Lorrimer

I think your source is biased.

Here's what i found from the ECB
11.9 General government debt
(as a percentage of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)

Eurozone area debt
2006= 68.3% of GDP
2007= 65.9% of GDP
2008= 69.4% of GDP
2009= 78.6% of GDP