Greece Played Germany Like a Violin; Horrified Syriza Demands ‘Icelandic’ Default

Courtesy of Mish.

A time-based analysis of eurozone taxpayer liabilities shows the Greek game-masters played German creditors like a violin.

What got me thinking about this in detail was a recent statement by Financial Times writer Wolfgang Münchau that France and Germany stand to forfeit €160 billion if Greece defaults.

On January 22, I had French exposure at €55 billion and German exposure at €73 billion, a total of €128 billion.

See Revised Greek Default Scenario: Liabilities Shifted to German and French Taxpayers; Bluff of the Day Revisited

The difference between our numbers is almost all due to a huge jump in Target2 imbalances. Let’s take a look.

Partial Table of Liabilities January 22

The above table derived from Exposure of European Countries to Greece by Dr. Eric Dor, IESEG School of management.

The total does not add up because I included only France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

Partial Table of Liabilities March 4

On March 4, the taxpayer liability of France and Germany increased to approximately €145 billion. The liability of the “big four” jumped from €209 billion to €239 billion.
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