It now costs more to insure Californian municipal debt against default than it does bonds issued by the government of Kazakhstan, the central Asian country satirized in "Borat."

That is neither a joke nor hyperbole. Californian munis cost 2.6% of face value per year to insure, reports CMA DataVision in London, which tracks bond insurance data. Kazakh bonds: Just 1.8%. It is "now less expensive to insure Kazakh debt than that of Greece, California and various other entities," confirms CMA spokesman Simon Mott. (Crisis-stricken...