January 19, 2012

Putting lead into the pencil.

In an interview with the Financial Times unelected leader of Italy, Mario Monti, explained
“I’m convinced, and the IMF is also convinced, that the more pledges are made [to the rescue fund], the higher the volume of pledges made, the smaller the probability that a single euro of cash will have to be disbursed.”
US treasury spokesman Alaimo was clear on the matter
"We have told our international partners that we have no intention to seek additional resources for the IMF,"
The private sector was less diplomatic
Robert Prince, co-chief investment officer at Bridgewater, and his managers at the world's biggest hedge fund firm are preparing for at least a decade of slow growth and high unemployment for the big developed economies. Prince describes those economies—the US and Europe, in particular—as "zombies" and said they will remain that way until they work through their mountains of debt.
"What you have is a picture of broken economic systems that are operating on life support," Prince said. "We're in a secular deleveraging that will probably take 15 to 20 years to work through and we're just four years in."