Early today, eurozone finance ministers finally approved the €130 billion rescue package to prevent Greece from defaulting, a move that will hopefully keep the country off the precipice before its bond repayment comes due March 20. Investors who own €200 billion of Greek debt have been asked to forgive 53.5 percent of the face value of the bonds, which will cut Greece's €350 billion debt load by €107 billion. This rescue package is contingent on Greece enacting stricter austerity measures.
Although the eurozone is taking big actions to prevent a financial crisis from spreading, its members are nowhere near being out of the woods. March 20 will be an important milestone, but even then the eurozone won't be out of ulcer-inducing territory for months. As Olli Rehn, European monetary affairs commissioner, said after the 14-hour meeting that hammered out the bailout plan, "I have learnt that marathon is indeed a Greek word."
The Latest
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- Geithner Bond Returns Trail Paulson While Beating Rubin Bloomberg Businessweek
- Could the American government default? The Economist
Chart of the Day
The Chicago Booth poll of economics, focusing on the 2009 stimulus, shows that 80 percent of economists surveyed believe the stimulus increased employment by December 2010. Forty-six percent believe the benefits will outweigh the long-term costs.
Reason to Get Out of Bed in the Morning
Russian scientists have generated a living plant from the 32,000-year-old tissue of the narrow-leafed campion.The previous record for oldest plant revived from ancient tissue was 2,000 years old, making this plant quite the scientific breakthrough.
