There is obviously a huge difference between America, which has the exorbitant privilege of borrowing in the global reserve currency, and Greece when it comes to scope for fiscal stimulus.
But while debt-ridden Greece had proved as recently as two weeks ago that it could count on the markets – following a highly oversubscribed government bond sale – Papaconstantinou conceded that the exorbitant cost of borrowing had caused concern.
Australia's attitude to debt is somewhat paradoxical – we have one of the highest rates of personal debt in the world, and see no problem with borrowing exorbitant amounts to buy McMansions and cars and boats and holidays, but we object to the Government borrowing money to pay our kids' teachers. .
Wonga's critics say people short of cash are thus seduced into borrowing at exorbitant rates of interest.
The bond markets took fright, pushing up the risk premiums on Greek borrowing to exorbitant levels and triggering a spiral of panic and brinkmanship that engulfed Ireland and Portugal and exposed the flimsy foundations of the common currency.
The Treasury downplayed worries about public borrowing hitting exorbitant levels by saying the data only reflects "a steep recession" that has affected public finances around the globe.
Some of the traders have cellphones that are linked to the Chinese cellular network and can be surreptitiously borrowed for exorbitant fees.
"People think students are drowning in debt, and there is a small proportion of students that borrow an exorbitant amount, but most students graduate with a manageable debt load," said Sandy Baum, an author of the brief.
He argues that the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency gives America an exorbitant privilege the ability to borrow heavily and cheaply from the rest of the world and that Asia's determination to hoard dollars forces America to exploit this privilege.
According to Boehner, the U.S. is like a family in desperate need of a loan, or like Greece that can only borrow at exorbitant interest rates and therefore needs a bailout from foreign lenders.
