Business Week has a concise review of which bond funds are exposed to Greek bonds. You might check to see if yours is listed. Legg-Mason is apparently doubling-down by both buying Greek debt and shorting the Euro.
Greece’s debt is 113% of its GDP, making it the 8th most indebted nation on earth. The top ten countries are: Zimbabwe, Japan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Lebanon, Jamaica, Singapore, Italy, Greece, Sudan, Belgium and Iceland. Portugal is #19 at 75% and Spain is #45 at 50%. The USA comes in at #42 at 53%.
Japan is a surprising #2. Its debt is almost 200% of GDP. Perhaps it is no surprise, in light of what is happening on the other side of the world, that the IMF is calling for Japan to reduce its debt. Japan will soon be reeling from the combined impact of more retirees, lower tax revenues, and decades of stimulus spending.
Will sovereign debt crises be the dominant economic story for the next decade? They say the teenage years are the most difficult.
Image credit: noticelj on Flickr.
Carnivals: This post was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance hosted at A Gai Shan Life.
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