Finally, it may be that Greek banks are repatriating Greek debt by having the ECB back them in their purchases of Greek bonds, thereby paying off outside creditors while the EU and Greek banks take on more EU debt. In other words, the longer these austerity measures continue, then we come to the point when the totality of the debt has moved from private hands to EU taxpayers and Greek banks.

I could live with that. Then all you have to do is shaft the Greek banks and the ECB, which is if nothing else politically easier than shafting German pension funds.

But unless the ECB is moving massively in this market, it's mostly cosmetic anyway, because these buybacks will be matched by Greek interbank debt to the rest of the €-zone. So shafting the Greek banks will still shaft the creditor countries.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.