Greece caused the euro zone to catch the flu, but its economy is relatively tiny, smaller than 14 US states and 11 EU states. The national debt of Greece is around 347 billion EUR, which is 159 percent of its Gross Domestic Product but still smaller in absolute value than its neighbors in Club Med. Italy, for instance, is over 1.88 trillion EUR in the red (120 percent of GDP); the recently downgraded Spanish debt is over 706 billion EUR (66% of GDP). These figures dwarf the 440 billion EUR remaining in the European Financial Stability Facility after the Irish and Portuguese bailouts.
So, if Greece gave the euro the flu, Spain and Italy are going to give it something like Ebola. - in RI
Related, iShares MSCI Italy Index ETF (EWI), iShares MSCI Spain Index ETF (EWP)
Peter Schiff`s comments on the economy, stock markets, politics and gold. Schiff is the renowned writer of the bestseller Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse.
