Market maven Jim Rogers feels Greece is beyond saving with the current debt deal. He expresses surprise that Eurozone policymakers would ask Greek bondholders to take a 50% loss, and says it shows that some European power players are coming to accept the severity of the situation, but that it is too late to save the country. He likens Europe’s problems to those in the U.S. and feels that the wider global financial crisis cannot be solved without decreasing debt at home and abroad, and no one is interested in making such painful cuts. For more on this continue reading the following article from Money Morning.
Investing legend Jim Rogers said that although the latest Eurozone deal for Greece is more generous than he expected, it’s not enough to solve Europe’s problems.
"Politicians have delayed addressing the problem yet again," Rogers told Investment Week. "It will come back in a few weeks or a few months and the world will still have the same problem, but this time only worse because the European Central Bank and other countries will be deeper in debt."
The deal European leaders hammered out on Thursday includes boosting the region’s rescue fund to $1.4 trillion (1 trillion euros) and asking bondholders to take a voluntary 50% haircut on Greek debt.
Rogers said while the deal isn’t enough to fix the issues, the haircut was more than he expected. The writedown on Greek holdings means $3.7 billion in debt-insurance contracts won’t be triggered.
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"Never in a million years did I expect them to impose a haircut of 50 percent; this shows at least somebody is starting to accept reality," said Rogers.
Rogers said haircuts are a necessary step in fixing Europe’s plaguing debt crisis, and more should be implemented.
"Greece is bankrupt, but others are too, and these haircuts will have to come back and be wider," said Rogers.
But until more stringent and widespread action is taken to alleviate not just Europe’s debt but that in the United States, the crisis will continue.
"Most European countries are increasing their debt rather than decreasing their debt," Rogers said. "Until that changes, the problems are going to continue, just as they will in the U.S."
This article was republished with permission from Money Morning.
