Ticking Debt Bombs

"My first lesson in the power of contagion happened in 1997, when I was based on Seoul. ... Why would a problem in Thailand extend to wealthier South Korea? ... On the surface, contagion makes no sense. Just because country A falls into a debt crisis doesn't mean countries, B, C or G should as well. But that's not how investors think in times of uncertainty. Instead, they look for other potential trouble spots, then try to get out of them. ... Europe may be facing a similar contagion effect today. Worries that overindebted Greece could default sent investors scouring for the next ticking debt bomb. ... Not even the unprecedented $145 billion European Union-IMF bailout for Greece announced in early May is guaranteed to stop things from getting worse. In South Korea in 1997, the IMF rescue failed to restore shattered investor confidence. ... Athens must still prove it can implement the brutal tax hikes, public-sector salary cuts and other budget-reduction measures it promised in return for the aid. ... And why stop in Europe? Much of the indistrialized world is emerging from the Great Recession buried in debt, the result of historical profligacy mixed with the costs of stimulus packaages and bank bailouts initiated during the recession. ... No investor should equate Greece's problems with those of the US. But we're not in normal times. .... What makes contagion so scary is that investors respond in a completely rational fashion: they panic. .... Now, with the Greek rescue, Europe has finally shown the backbone to take on contagion. But it needs to do more. This is no longer a Greek crisis; it's a eurozone crisis", my emphasis, Michael Schuman (MS) at Time, 17 May 2010, link:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1987598,00.html.

MS produced a descriptive piece devoid of economic analysis. Contagion means and explains nothing. MS, do you know what a balance sheet is? You are right about this: "it's a eurozone crisis". Instead of confining the cancer to Greece, Germany injected itself with it. Got euros? Poor dear. I'm sure MS will happily take them off your hands. This kind of piece Yves Smith would decry for its dismissive tone, "You sans culottes. Fear nothing. Super ECB-IMF is here. Buy Greek bonds". Why should Greece's $145 billion bailout do any more than spread the problem to Germany and France? MS, how dare you tell me what not to do? I "equate Greece's problems with those of the US". All times are those of "uncertainty". So? What made investors to look less positively on Greece's debt?