How is this different from the 52 states (plus the rest of the world) borrowing dollars from the Federal Reserve, dollars, which too get printed out of thin air?
The difference is Portugal along with some of the other PIIGS are serial defaulters.
Quote
Portugal has defaulted on its national debt five times since 1800, Greece five times, Spain no less than seven times (and 13 times in all since 1500).
By contrast, Anglo-Saxon countries rarely, if ever, default. In this country, we havent reneged on our debts in nearly 1,000 years, though there have been close shaves. The same applies to Canada, Australia and the United States.
By contrast, Anglo-Saxon countries rarely, if ever, default. In this country, we havent reneged on our debts in nearly 1,000 years, though there have been close shaves. The same applies to Canada, Australia and the United States.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100081316/some-european-countries-are-in-the-habit-of-going-bankrupt/
This is a good example of how people don't understand today's monetary system. They think if everyone work hard and never default, everyone will be rich and no debt
This is true in a gold backed monetary system, but not in today's debt based monetary systemSince all the money is debt based, in the whole EURO area, if some country is getting a surplus, then there must be some other country in debt, and the whole EURO area must be in net debt, unless they could gain some surplus through trading with some other countries outside EU, which just kick the debt to some other parts of the world