Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis
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PostPosted: Sun, Feb 14 2010, 2:26 pm EST    Post subject: Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis Reply with quote

Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis

By LOUISE STORY, LANDON THOMAS Jr. and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
Published: February 13, 2010

Wall Street tactics akin to the ones that fostered subprime mortgages in America have worsened the financial crisis shaking Greece and undermining the euro by enabling European governments to hide their mounting debts.

As worries over Greece rattle world markets, records and interviews show that with Wall Street’s help, the nation engaged in a decade-long effort to skirt European debt limits. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped obscure billions in debt from the budget overseers in Brussels.

Even as the crisis was nearing the flashpoint, banks were searching for ways to help Greece forestall the day of reckoning. In early November — three months before Athens became the epicenter of global financial anxiety — a team from Goldman Sachs arrived in the ancient city with a very modern proposition for a government struggling to pay its bills, according to two people who were briefed on the meeting.

The bankers, led by Goldman’s president, Gary D. Cohn, held out a financing instrument that would have pushed debt from Greece’s health care system far into the future, much as when strapped homeowners take out second mortgages to pay off their credit cards.

It had worked before. In 2001, just after Greece was admitted to Europe’s monetary union, Goldman helped the government quietly borrow billions, people familiar with the transaction said. That deal, hidden from public view because it was treated as a currency trade rather than a loan, helped Athens to meet Europe’s deficit rules while continuing to spend beyond its means.

Athens did not pursue the latest Goldman proposal, but with Greece groaning under the weight of its debts and with its richer neighbors vowing to come to its aid, the deals over the last decade are raising questions about Wall Street’s role in the world’s latest financial drama.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html
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PostPosted: Sun, Feb 14 2010, 2:47 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis Reply with quote

What does this have to do with Cranbury?
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PostPosted: Sun, Feb 14 2010, 2:58 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis Reply with quote

Guest wrote:
What does this have to do with Cranbury?


Just FYI. In case you own retirement or brokerage accounts, you probably want to know why the stock markets are down lately.
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PostPosted: Sun, Feb 14 2010, 4:05 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis Reply with quote

Guest wrote:
Guest wrote:
What does this have to do with Cranbury?


Just FYI. In case you own retirement or brokerage accounts, you probably want to know why the stock markets are down lately.


Then I will go to a forum dealing with the market not cranbury.info.
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PostPosted: Sun, Feb 14 2010, 4:39 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis Reply with quote

Guest wrote:
Guest wrote:
Guest wrote:
What does this have to do with Cranbury?


Just FYI. In case you own retirement or brokerage accounts, you probably want to know why the stock markets are down lately.


Then I will go to a forum dealing with the market not cranbury.info.


That's fine. Others may be interested.
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PostPosted: Sun, Feb 14 2010, 6:40 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis Reply with quote

Guest wrote:
Guest wrote:
Guest wrote:
What does this have to do with Cranbury?


Just FYI. In case you own retirement or brokerage accounts, you probably want to know why the stock markets are down lately.


Then I will go to a forum dealing with the market not cranbury.info.


Give the guy a break, this is properly posted in the financial / stocks / mutual fund area. It is fine here, it would not be appropriate in the general news area which should be focused on Cranbury.
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PostPosted: Sun, Feb 14 2010, 6:54 pm EST    Post subject: Re: Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe's Crisis Reply with quote

I have to agree. This is very relative news and it is appropriate to discuss on this forum and in this specific category.

I thank the original psoter for sharing. I do not read or get the NYT so this was a good article for me to see.
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