- Does Obama blueprint reduce budget deficit fast enough? (+video)
- Whitney Houston: a singing sensation silenced too soon
- Pentagon budget: Does it pit active-duty forces against retirees?
- Could Mitt Romney lose to Rick Santorum in Michigan? (+video)
- Russian opposition to intervention in Syria shows no sign of abating
How the Greek debt crisis affects Americans
The Greek meltdown could negatively impact the US if demand for its goods in Europe decreases or if the its high debt begins to trouble creditors.
A color illustration of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on a gazillion dollar bill. The Greek meltdown could negatively impact the US if demand for its goods in Europe decreases or if the its high debt begins to trouble creditors.
Taylor Jones/TMS/Newscom/file
As the Greek debt saga unfolds, you’re likely questioning how it affects you… as an American. The connections are not always obvious, but today an article helps explain how some consequences of Greece’s debt mismanagement could ultimately hit US shores.
Skip to next paragraph
Rocky is publisher of The Daily Reckoning (dailyreckoning.com). Previously, he was founding publisher of UrbanTurf and RFID Update, which he operated from Brazil, Chile, and Puerto Rico, and associate publisher of FierceFinance. He specialized in direct marketing at MBI, facilitated MIT Sloan School of Management programs, and has been featured on CBS.
Recent posts
From the Washington Post:
“‘The banking system could really act as a shock enhancer in this case,’ said Elisa Parisi-Capone, a senior research analyst at Roubini Global Economics. ‘Given that banks in Europe hold large claims on Greece, if Greece gets in trouble and those claims lose value, the governments of the banks that hold Greek paper are on the hook. This is the link through which contagion propagates.’
“Spreading from one European country to another, these debt troubles could lead to a pullback in bank lending, slowing the continent’s economy further. That in turn might have an indirect effect on the recovery in the United States as Europeans reduce their demand for American products.
“But fiscal crises in Europe could have a more dramatic impact in the United States if they prompt investors to question the ability of the U.S. government to manage its finances. The United States is running large budget deficits, reflecting a sharp decline in tax revenue because of the recession and increased spending to stimulate the anemic economy.
“If bond investors lose faith that the U.S. government will be able to bring the deficits down over time, rates could rise to reflect the risk of default. In turn, that could slow or stop the recovery.”
A debt-related meltdown in Greece could impact the US in two ways. First, diminished demand from Europe for US goods and services hurts the American economy. Second, lessened faith in sovereign debt more broadly could add to the perception that US debt is no longer risk free, resulting in decreased demand for it and contributing to rising interest rates.
You can read more of the details in Washington Post coverage of how the Greek debt crisis could raise problems for the US and other countries.
Add/view comments on this post.
------------------------------
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link above.
Become part of the Monitor community
36K on Facebook | 12K on Twitter | 2,250 on YouTube