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214 Years Of Sovereign Defaults In One Chart
From 1800 to 1950, Argentina had been a relatively low frequency 'defaulter', but as the following chart from The Economist shows, since then (as we noted here) they have made up for it.
Argentina has defaulted on its external debt seven times and on its domestic debt five times since independence almost 200 years ago, putting it somewhere in the middle of the historical ranks of the world’s serial defaulters.
However, as WSJ notes, a long history of economic booms and busts have scarred the national psyche and left external creditors wary as the country hovers on the edge of its second default of the 21st century.
Argentina first defaulted on its sovereign debt in 1827, just 11 years after declaring independence from Spain.
Ecuador and Venezuela have both reneged on their debts ten times; four other countries have defaulted nine times in total, according to data from Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, two experts on sovereign debt.
Nine of the top ten defaulters are from Latin America, although many have shown no trace of the debt-default disease for decades. That, alas, is plainly not the case for Argentina.
h/t @palmerandrew via The Economist
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US will be on that list soon...
Should already be on there.
I thought the US was already on the list?
The Fed/TBTF banksters plan to raise interest rates and blame the ensuing economic catastrophe and inevitable dollar crash and US debt defaults on the politicians, freeing up the banksters from being appropriately blamed as they should be, and then they will be free to fuck your children and your children's children even more dramatically in the future. The US dollar/FRN means nothing to them, as any other comparable eidolon will suit their purposes just as well.
Whelp, that sums it up better than any FED Minutes Release ever could
http://www.dilbert.com/1994-04-08/
http://www.dilbert.com/1994-04-09/
The High Ground Maneuver that we've been paying for ever since
Kinda of weird that of the top 10, 9 are South American? wtfiuwt?
Proxies for the US perhaps? It's a clear signal when this happens so often in the US's own backyard.
At least 3 times. Lincoln, FDR, and Nixon come to mind. Currency debasement is an admission of default, by its very nature.
So we've defaulted nearly every day since the Fed.
The US technically defaulted twice: 1. 1933 when the Roosevelt administration forced all American to redeem their gold for $20 per ounce.
2. 1971 when Nixon closed the gold window.
The Confederacy defaulted outright in 1864.
1971 was the last US default.
It was not the first, nor will it be the last.
Tick tock.
It's a good way to tell who's causing the problems though isn't it?
As the weathly herd thins out, their numbers dwindle, finally a few stand. How they got 'to the top' is only reflected in how poorly this world is doing under their stewardship. Every where around those people is ground zero for a growing list of problems. Those last few greedy monkey's have their hands in the honey pot, all trapped by their own stupidity. They only had to let go.
But what are you going to do? Nothing, today or in the past history the process and motivations of thieves never change.
In past history the best remedy for thieves was pretty brutal. The thief caught had BOTH hands removed at the wrist, then those hands would be nailed to the town square platform usually next to the stocks where the thieves were typically pegged (wood dildo strapped in their ass) and in stocks with their knee's hobbled (broken side ways, then set sideways). Usually there would be the equivalent of a 'watcher' waiting to see who assisted the thief to take notes and gather intelligence, then perform the historical equivalent of a sting operation to burn out any problematic 'guilds', or silently remove them. Usually after a couple of polite notices are given first. Otherwise thank goodness it's not then. Most cities would stink of rotten body parts if that's how Justice worked today.
Now don't get me wrong, being the last person standing works well in academics and sports and clubs, it illustrates merit and a spirit of competition anyone should strive for.
In poorly managed situations, you don't want to be the last man or woman standing. Tend to stick out like a nail, and there's nothing more annoying than catching a toe on an errant nail. Usually means that nail needs to be pounded back into it's place, hard and without mercy or replaced.
Theft is bad. Robbery is good.
See, you are missing the part where you threaten the person you are stealing from, with violence.
Planned inflation is technically a default. So the last time the USA defaulted was today.
I would also throw in 1933. So two times since 1800.
Didn't the US experience a bankruptcy in 1930?
Haven't we been operating in bankruptcy ever since? Or is that around the time our labor was pledged as surety against the debt via birth certificates?
http://www.barefootsworld.net/admiralty.html
"My investigation convinced me that during the last quarter of a century the average production of gold has been falling off considerably. The gold mines of the world are practically exhausted. There is only about $11,000,000,000 in gold in the world, with the United States owning a little more than four billions. We have more than $100,000,000,000 in debts payable in gold of the present weight and fineness. . . As a practical proposition these contracts cannot be collected in gold for the obvious reason that the gold supply of the entire world is not sufficient to make payment." -- Congressional Record, Congressman Dies, March 15, 1933
Before 1933 all contracts with the government were payable in gold. Now I ask you? Who in their right mind would enter into contracts totaling One Hundred billion dollars in gold, when there was only eleven billion in gold in the whole world, and we had about four billion. To keep from being hung by the American public they obeyed the banksters demands and turned over our country to them. They never came out and said we were in bankruptcy but, the fact remains, we are. In 1933 the gold of the whole country had to be turned in to the banksters, and all government contracts in gold were canceled. This is bankruptcy.
The wealth of the nation including our land was turned over to the banksters. In return, the nations 100 billion dollar debt was forgiven. I have two papers that have circulated the country on this subject. Remember Jesus said "money is the root of all evil" The Congress of 1933 sold every American into slavery to protect their asses. Read the following Congressional quotes:
Thank you, wish I could upvote more.
It is amazing the white washing of history, no one understands this history of money and no one cares. The next generation of kids only sees global warming, arctic seals and more government help as the issues of importance.
The James Traficant quote was from 1993, not 1933- i wish people would stop misquoting that. It is also interesting to note that 9 years later he got nailed for improper use of campaign funds and got sent to PMITA prison for it... coincidence?
not the same traficant...this guy had better hair...
Uhmmmm.... The U.S defauled several times and they are currently defaulting via the printing press.
"US will be on that list soon..."
No, the US was left off that list:
Circa: The "Continental" 1781, the "Confederate Dollar 1865, the "Greenback" 1868, US dollar 1932 FDR devalues from $20 per ounce to $35 per ounce, 1971 Nixon devalues from $35 per ounce to "no gold per dollar".
It already happened: 1933 and 1971
When does the USA's default get recorded on there? Already defaulting via the printing press
Ah it says External. The USA has a sheet all for itself with several entries including 2012 - 2014
I've got my money on the Ruskies for the next one.
with enough sanctions, the opportunity cost of defaulting becomes lower than the opportinity cost of servicing debt.
That's seems like a clueless statement to me.
Russia already defaulted in 1998, leaving them with very little debt. Please show me how much new debt they amassed since then, as I would assume it is low compared to all other major countries in the world.
Argentina defaulted in 2001. Lightning tends to strike the same place over and over. Russia has a major demographics problem and their economy is totally dependent on selling oil and gas. Russian banks have a lot of fx debt that will get harder to payback as the Rouble weakens. If the banks go the govt will probably have to bail them out, collapse or both. I'm not saying this is a definite scenario, but sometimes predicting defaults is more complicated than just looking at debt to gdp.
Russia has a major demographics problem
as have Japan, Germany, Italy...
and their economy is totally dependent on selling oil and gas
I'm sure other countries would love to have that problem.
Russian banks have a lot of fx debt
source?
Hehe. Greece defaulted. I knew they would.
The world is defaulting. Reset button just waiting for a meaty hand to go push.
South America is default. Maybe drop the "South" part one day too.
heh. cool chart, man!
spain is long overdue for a default
You might want to phone the CIA to ask why Argentina´s government became so unstable after 1952... seems to be a common occurence in Latin America during that era.
Look at all that socialism success. FORWARD!
/s
PORTIA: A pound of this merchant’s flesh is yours. The court awards it and the law authorizes it.
SHYLOCK: Most rightful judge!
PORTIA: And you must cut this flesh from off his breast. The law allows it, and the court awards it.
Funny, why isn't the U.S listed in there for 1933 and 1971 when they defaulted on gold? Nor is there mention of their various other defaults prior to 1933.
Depends on who rewrites the history, Winston.
How many fingers again ?
I read the newspaper the other day.. It's, it's 4% GDP.
George Orwell
Starting with the Continental Dollar before the USA was out of diapers. And, planned inflation is technically a default, so the last time the USA defaulted was today.
Right, don't forget Treasury Secretary Chase's inability to redeem Demand Notes for specie, 1862 ...
Germany defaulted in 1945. When the new world order fails and the smoke of the earth is filling the solar system the microbes on Mars are going to say, "Looks like the NWO defaulted."
1825
1925
2025
Purpose Driven Strife
By the looks of things 2025 if not sooner should be a mirror image of the 1925 area. They didn't have wide spread TV, Interwebs, or Tweaker back then, so It could happen sooner.
A lot of socialist paradises on that list!
...and pretty much every country that speaks Spanish or Portuguese.
Also, I'd score Germany as '1' (socialist) since it wasn't a unified country until 1871.
Austria's fat 7 is somewhat surprising however.
It's easy to forget that the USA is actually one of the oldest governments in the world and has the oldest written constitution still (nominally anyway) in service. That helps quite a bit in this regard.
On the other hand France has had at least a dozen different governments over the same period (and Italy!...fuggetaboutit!) and I don't see them on the list - but I'm pretty sure they defaulted circa Napoleon.
Interestingly, No Asian Names in there.
Just not included here although their history with sovereign debt probably doesn't go back as far as Western countries either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_default
china was the first country to try fiat, therefore the first nation to default. asian economies and cultures are much older than western economies, but, until modern monetary policy, always relied upon gold and silver and valuable commodities(rice) as the foundation of their economies. i don't know of any sovereign defaults off the top of my head pre western colonization.
Sovereign Defaulter or Serial Defaulter?
What is it about the equator, all the problems tend to concentrate in the warmer countries?
Anyone got any theories?
The north south poles cant reverse at 0.
Read Naomi Klein's book "Shock Doctrine"
Iceland?
I don't think so.
Their banks? Sure.
I LOVE THE SMELL OF FRESHLY PRINTED MONEY IN THE MORNING!
Obama...."We will not cross the red line of default!(We will print our way out of this mess)"
Looks like a World Cup league table. US to win their first tournament soon. Interesting how the usual suspects keep popping up as well.
Prop me up and fuck me up the ass.
"Nine of the top ten defaulters are from Latin America,..."
That's okay. Obumble will welcome all their children to come to the USA. Unlimited growth potential. Free Pampers and Similac for everyone...
FUBAR.
This decade all will default simultaneously. That should be fun.
i feel the more important question here is why the heck won't/can't banks/bankers/humans ever learn to quit extending credit to these countries
maybe a more diabolical historical interpretation is that they always get rights to commodities and/or real estate for collateral? therefore, the bankers pretty much know the silly countries are going to default again, but if they get rights to highly undervalued, yet highly valuable collateral (commodities/real estate) they have no issue continueing to extend predatory credit to greedy dictators who have no true regard for their fellow countrymen.
Bruce Krasting had a nice post describing the banker incentives for sovereign lending. Up front fees, and someone else's mess when the bills come due. Another take on the Mexican peso crisis in the nineties:
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/history/2012/pdf/c10.pdf
The Great Satan haz bailouts for my poor poor tribe?
I advise you to check who owns "The Economist".
How can it be considered a "default" if Argentina has made the deposit to pay bonholders of the reestructured debt severals days ago?
It's not Argentina who didn't pay the bonholders. In fact, Argentina has de receipt for the deposit. LOL
Bank of New York Mellon says Griesa don't allow them to pay. Guess bonholders are going to go after the Bank. We'll see... I have the feeling "they" are gonna fix this before that happens.
I expected better from Kenneth Rogoff and The Economist. No mention of the People's Republic of China's selective default on China's external sovereign debt and subsequent repudiation:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210715422/Summary-Brief-of-the-Known-Actions-o...
and
http://www.globalsecuritieswatch.org/DOJ_Antitrust_Complaint
What about
US default on Gold Certificates upon closure of the gold window
US default on Silver Certificates after JFK's assassination
I mean seriously, if the country speaks a version of Spanish, stay away!!!
BEST: Zero Debt.
NEXT: Default.
NEXT: Pay.
Anyone who loans to governments is corrupt, and deserves to lose.
This is not fair! Re-rank the list starting in 1960! Gotta give Nigeria their recognition!