http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph..._10315364.html
6-6-16
A new financial crisis is brewing in Europe, one that will prove as devastating as the last economic crisis. This one will also be centered in southern Europe—only this time, instead of the sovereign debt of the region’s governments, it will involve the commercial banking sector.
The last European financial crisis was triggered by sharply escalating interest rates on the government bonds of the EU’s southern members: Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Ireland, at the other end of the EU, was also included. Those countries debt levels were increasingly seen as unsupportable, given their deteriorating economies, raising fears of a default. Given that much of this government debt was held by European banks, a default by one or more countries threatened the stability of Europe’s entire banking sector.
The EU responded to the crisis by implementing a series of financial support mechanisms, such as the European Financial Stability Fund and the European Stability Mechanism, to provide emergency loans to those countries most affected by skyrocketing interest rates. The European Central Bank also acted to lower interest rates, in some cases by buying government bonds and private debt, and providing low interest loans of more than one trillion euros to ensure the liquidity of Europe’s banking sector.
In the case of Greece, EU members agreed to write-off about 50 percent of the face value of Athens’s sovereign debt, as well as provide a series of loans to keep the Greek government solvent. Despite never ending discussions on renegotiating Greece’s debt, the crisis, now into its fifth year, shows no sign of resolution.
..............Also if NZ was on the coast of the EU it would be another "Sicily" population 5mill ..unemployment 20% huge debt issues....no thanks I like where we are ....