S&P, the notoriously incompetent rating agency that was a prime enabler of the credit crisis, has declared that Greece is in “selective default.”
This is, of course, an act of belated cowardice on the part of S&P. When a borrower informs their lenders that they will a) Not be repaying the full loan amount; and b) Not making those reduced payments on time — they are technically in default. When they then fail to make the full payments on time, they are actually in default.
Hence, Greece defaulted quite some time ago. This nonsensical dance of the rating agencies not wanting to roil the waters during difficult periods reveals how meaningless rating agencies have become. They are, as my ranching cousins so colorfully describe it as teats on a bull. In short, they are without purpose.
The Greeks they never qualified as members in the first place; it is an unnecessary burden on the Greek people.
I suggest that the Greek government formally default. They should tell Germany to “πηγαίνετε γαμηθείς” — then leave the EU and the Euro. Once they go back to the Drachma, their economy will recover, their exports bloom, and their tourism revive.
In the meanwhile, the Greek drama inexorably goes on . . .
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