Chapter 3
Europe’s Sovereign Blues
Just before Greece adopted the euro in 2001, an analyst at one of the leading European investment banks penned a report concluding that there was something fishy about the country’s economic statistics. On the face of it, Greece met most requirements for joining the common currency, but the analyst crunched the numbers over and over, and they just didn’t add up. When the report was published, the backlash was amazing: Instead of trying to explain why her math was wrong, Greek officials threatened her personally and demanded that the bank fire their employee. Not being sure how serious the threats were, the analyst’s bosses decided to shift her to another division where she would no longer cover anything related ...
