Greece, Ireland, Portugal......the United States?

[marmar]

from the NY Times:



By ROBERT M. FISHMAN
Published: April 12, 2011

South Bend, Ind.


PORTUGAL’S plea for help with its debts from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union last week should be a warning to democracies everywhere.

The crisis that began with the bailouts of Greece and Ireland last year has taken an ugly turn. However, this third national request for a bailout is not really about debt. Portugal had strong economic performance in the 1990s and was managing its recovery from the global recession better than several other countries in Europe, but it has come under unfair and arbitrary pressure from bond traders, speculators and credit rating analysts who, for short-sighted or ideological reasons, have now managed to drive out one democratically elected administration and potentially tie the hands of the next one.

If left unregulated, these market forces threaten to eclipse the capacity of democratic governments — perhaps even America’s — to make their own choices about taxes and spending.

.....(snip).....

In Portugal’s fate there lies a clear warning for other countries, the United States included. Portugal’s 1974 revolution inaugurated a wave of democratization that swept the globe. It is quite possible that 2011 will mark the start of a wave of encroachment on democracy by unregulated markets, with Spain, Italy or Belgium as the next potential victims. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/opinion/13fishman.html?hp

[ret5hd]

1. would the acronym be u-pig?

[xchrom]

2. ...

:spray:

[unblock]

3. or "pig? us!"