``European finance ministers meet in Luxembourg for a second day today to try to hammer out an agreement on a Greek rescue before a Brussels summit of EU leaders on June 23-24.
The risk that euro-area banks holding Greek government bonds will be saddled with losses increased after S&P slapped Greece with the world's lowest sovereign credit rating June 13.''
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/06/19/bloomberg1376-LMXX9G1A1I4H01-0J5DITN8PLQIFOPFH4DKPLC74R.DTL&ao=2#ixzz1PlvsAAcFI don't understand this entire problem.Banks made shitty loans (via bonds) to Greece which they doctored to lookmore valuable than they knew they were, just like the US mortage market.Other banks made millions (billions) betting against these loans. Stillother banks bought this garbage. Now the banks holding garbage want Greeceto undergo austerity and sell off the public infrastructure and institutionsthe state controls to cover the interest payments. Why would Greece do that?I read my credit card statement. It said if I made the minimum payment itwould take 27 years to pay off and cost me 2.5 times what the balance wasworth. Since I finally had the money, I sent them almost 8 times theminimum. I will be out from their crushing system in five months. I willprobably not need their credit for another two or three years. Meanwhile Ithink most of the people still in unemployment are going to do what I wasdoing, go into debt so deep they can't afford the minimum, and have to walkaway. So how is this going to work out for the credit industry? Some smallpercentage pay off and get out. But a much larger percentage default.A good wage is the miracle cure, or was for me. So how come that is off thetable? My part time job is funded by Obama's stimulus money and it is doingexactly what it is supposed to do. It gives me a job at an honest wage and Iget to pay off the credit I've been living on to survive. Isn't that thewhole point? And, BTW this is not make-work. I am devoting my working lifeexperience to develop a self-sustaining public service for the disabledcommunity, i.e. the public good.CG