Amid all the bluster, propaganda, and pressure from 'Europe-ex-Greece' towards Greece, we thought the words of Luis de Guindos (of course before he became the status-quo-fulfilling Finance Minister of Spain) were particularly enlightening given Greece's 'demands' and Europe's rebuttal...
"To insist on the viability of a strategy without debt restructuriung may lead to exhaustion of governments in peripheral countries, which due to their weakness, at some point may even question the future of the single currency."
- April 3rd, 2011
"It is increasingly evident that there is something wrong with the way we designed the rescue mechanisms for peripheral countries. Unlike what happens with IMF programs, since the euro zone [countries] cannot devalue, restructuring is avoided at all costs. To focus emphasis on fiscal adjustments only gives place to unbalanced programs, which is a sure path to economic and social failure. This only prevents countries from failing to to pay their obligations in the short term, but does nothing to promote growth. The impression is that the sole purpose is to buy time."
-April 17th, 2011
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But, of course, when have previous statements in direct opposition to current policy confidence ever shattered investor faith in policymakers' penchant for Einsteinian insanity.
h/t @TrumanFactor
