Beset by fears about a possible Greek exit and a bigger bail-out for Spain (which this week received a rescue request of its own, from Catalonia's regional government), the euro zone is sliding ever deeper into the mire.
A bigger bail-out might be needed, he suggested, than the £37 billion ($57 billion) already pledged to bolster bank capital and £450 billion in guarantees and liquidity support.
And then there is this month's rescue of Chaori's bondholders, led by Great Wall Asset Management, a state-run firm initially set up to take bad loans off banks' hands during a big bail-out a decade ago.
Indeed, the creation of a big bail-out fund was meant to make default unthinkable.
Spain has deep problems, but even with a big bank bail-out it should be able to keep its public debt at a sustainable level (see article).
ON JANUARY 21st the Ukrainian government and the IMF announced that Ukraine would be seeking a new, bigger bail-out.
Now the Arab spring has brought in thousands of north African boat-people, undermining the Schengen borderless zone.The response to the euro zone's upheavals has been "more Europe": a bigger European bail-out fund, more scrutiny by Brussels of national economic and fiscal policies.
Other characters were influenced by real people, too, like the character played by Josh Brolin, a conniving chief executive of a big bank that bails out a failing firm.
Although the EU and the ECB may not want to get involved in bigger bail-outs, they will have to.
Letting it fail to prevent moral hazard will just trigger more runs, bigger bail-outs and, ultimately, more moral hazard.Putting such advice to use is no easy task.
