Hi Adair,



I would have titled your essay; "The Slipperiest Slope of All" because once we make it OK for two governments to run-up excessive debt and then skip town, then every government will be in a rush to run-up their debt and skip town.



And once that becomes mainstream (and it will) consumers will get into the act and it will become commonplace for every person to run-up their personal debt to unsustainable levels and then simply declare personal bankruptcy every seventh year.



I guarantee that every single human on the planet will be marking their calendars six years in advance!



Corporations too. We've already seen some of this, with major corporations declaring various states of insolvency, financial reorganization, bankruptcy -- with some corporations doing it more than once.



Imagine a world where countries, corporations, and citizens, simply run-up their debts to the maximum possible, and then declare bankruptcy every sixth year.



Because that is the logical outcome of what you propose. (The end of civilization as we know it)



People would then say; "Why work?" which really means; "Why work, if we aren't going to get paid?" or, "Why work, if we're only going to get paid ten cents on the dollar every time a corporation feels like tightening-up their balance sheet?"



Our present world order has worked for so long exactly because we earn, we accumulate debt, we work to pay it off or pay it down, and that sets up a virtuous cycle of economic progress.



To toss the whole thing out the window now because two nation-states lacked fiscal discipline (and without a better model to replace it) reeks of irresponsibility set to Ludicrous Mode.



Rather, Greece should simply sell-off whatever assets it has in order to get down to 50% debt to GDP, or whatever is deemed sustainable by the IMF, the Eurozone, and the Greek government.



How much could Greece get for the island of Crete? That might remove $100 billion dollars of debt right there.



Then, because $100 billion won't cut it, islands such as; Kassos, Karpathos, Simi, Kos, Nissiros, Santorini, Ios, Naxos, Mykonos, Samos, Chios, Limnos, Lesvos, and other Greek islands near the Turkish mainland could be on the chopping block.



I'm sure Turkey would find the money.



Within six months, Greece could be the darling of the Eurozone with 50% debt to GDP and an economy growing somewhat better than 1.5% -- and, no pesky debt confrontations with the ECB, the IMF, 0r the Eurozone, ever again.



It's so obviously the thing to do.



Now, over to Japan.



"What? You suddenly found the money and don't need to sell any Japanese islands to Russia or China? That's great!"



You know, it's so easy to run a successful economy, Adair. Look at Norway's stats, look at Switzerland, look at Taiwan, look at the UAE, look at Germany, look at the United States during Ike Eisenhower's time in office.



There is absolutely no excuse good enough for a country not to meet its financial obligations. None.



Politicians that sell their country into bankruptcy should be hung for treason. It's that egregious to their own country, it's that toxic to the global economy, and it's that dangerous to our present and stable world order.



'Shameful' and 'Dangerous' doesn't begin to describe it.



Thank you, Adair, for continuing to post your fine essays at ProSyn.



As always, very best regards, JBS