This week, President Barack Obama is visiting Britain, France, Poland and Ireland, which is the first stop on his European tour and the site of a driving snafu today in which the presidential stretch, armored Cadillac got stuck on a ramp. Whoops. (See video above … via HuffPo)
Obviously, chief among the commander in chief’s reasons for talking to EU leaders face-to-face is to get a better understanding of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the region that is straining relations on the continent and may continue to threaten global economic recovery.
We have heard much about the so-called PIGS economies (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) — and rightfully so; Athens and Dublin in particular both have a lot of economic finagling to do to figure out some real solutions to what is a major long-term challenge for each country. And while Obama will certainly trying to be figure out what the United States can do to help smooth the austerity and economic transitions Ireland will have to make (in addition to exploring his personal roots), there are many other locations across the world with troubles of their own.
Along these lines, Business Insider ranks the 21 countries most likely to default in terms of the cost to insure each country’s debt. Here’s their list in full. Head over there for more detailed economic profiles of the nations.
21. Russia
20. Poland
19. Israel
18. Kazakhstan
17. Belgium
16. Turkey
15. Italy
14. Lithuania
13. Bulgaria
12. Romania
11. Hungary
10. Croatia
9. Spain
8. Vietnam
7. Lebanon
6. Ukraine
5. Argentina
4. Ireland
3. Portugal
2. Venezuela
1. Greece
This is a good post, given that it was over a year ago. It is interesting to compare Business Insider’s list with the current reality. Even without the benefit of hindsight, they didn’t do badly. Nor did you, for having the sense to post the list at that time.
Regarding the not-eponymous “PIGS” acronym: I didn’t like it initially. Then I saw a different version, “GIPS”, which I thought was much more unpleasant. I actually am very fond of porcine critters, and decided that “PIGS” as an acronym need not be pejorative!