The head of the Dutch Central Bank stated yesterday he wouldn't rule out a Greek default. With so many politicians refusing to say the obvious, this is yet another example of central banks acting sensibly when politicians won't. The ECB is warning the the entire common currency is in peril, and it is only the G20 central banks that have moved to ensure liquidity when the Greek case goes critical.
Ironically, out of all the intended reasons for keeping central banks independent of political control, this was not one of them. The failure of democracy in Europe means that the central banks have no choice but to act.
Ironically, out of all the intended reasons for keeping central banks independent of political control, this was not one of them. The failure of democracy in Europe means that the central banks have no choice but to act.
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What's the difference between "if Greece doesn't implement the obligations, there will be no money" (accepted) and "we don't rule out a Greek default" (condemned by all politicians)?
ReplyDeleteSir journalistic deontology should have made you check and reproduce the EXACT WORDING of Mr Knot declaration on such a sensible matter. From the information available, I understand he declared something like "I will not say that Greece cannot default" . The same could actually be said - litteraly - for any other country, including the US . Yet, it is clear that - in the present times of active speculation and self fulfilling prophecies, Mr. Knot could have abstained from any commentaries of this kind . Jean-Guy GIRAUD
ReplyDeleteLike everything else Mr. Knot has said in the last week or two, this too was (almost) exactly the opposite of what he should have said. Self-fulfilling default anyone?
ReplyDeletehttp://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/a-self-fulfilling-euro-crisis-wonkish/