One-person rule is also prone to the kind of excesses and paranoia that may not only alienate the citizenry but undermine the institutions that previously insured the country's stability.
Yields on Irish 10-year bonds slipped nearly a quarter of a percentage point, to 6.37 percent, Thursday, and the cost of insuring the country's debt also decreased.
And so Venezuela's should be: the price of insuring the country's bonds against default has risen by 80% over the past two months—suggesting they are the world's riskiest (see chart).
The ratings agency Moody's cut Greece's credit rating by three notches to B1, which analysts said was deep into "junk" territory, sending the cost of insuring the country's debt soaring.
The Russian Patriarch did not seem at all squeamish or disconcerted when, earlier this month, he sanctified the Church of Sophia, in the hope that it would help F.S.B. agents "carry out the difficult work of insuring the country's security in the face of external and internal ill-wishers, if not enemies".
The credit default swap for Irish government bonds, a gauge of the cost of insuring the country's debt against default within five years, hit a record high of 425 basis points, or 4.25 percentage points, an increase of about 38 basis points on the day, according to the C.D.S. monitor Markit.
The government of Botswana is turning to huge and costly projects to try to insure the country against future crises.
Given the large number of people uninsured or poorly insured in this country, it was no surprise that Americans were the most likely to go without care because of costs.
Since then, many countries have insured themselves against future crises by hoarding vast foreign-exchange reserves.
In addition, in most countries only insured workers, i.e., workers having formal jobs, are eligible to obtain such compensation.
