France and Germany Seek Bail-out Agreement on Greece

Via the BBC:  Greece: Merkel and Sarkozy urge bail-out

The leaders of Germany and France have said that they want a new rescue package for debt-laden Greece to be agreed as soon as possible.

Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy were speaking after Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou announced a cabinet reshuffle.

[…]

Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy met in Berlin after a public disagreement between their governments over whether private investors should be forced to assume a greater burden to resolve Greece’s debt crisis.

In the category of “a picture is worth a thousand words” (or, in this case, a bar graph), the following is instructive as to why the leaders of these countries in particular might be interested in a solution to the crisis:

Countries most expose to Greek debt

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. george says:

    As you say, the graph at the bottom does go a long way to explaining their stance …