Dubai Dubai...

After the news of Dubai, I wonder how many other shoes there are out there that will drop? The UK's $13 Trillion, 375% of GDP of external debt is one of the largest. Germany and France seem relatively stable at 160% and 211% of GDP. Spain is only at 150% of GDP, but with unemployment at 18% and taxes slated to rise, this is an obvious candidate for disaster, maybe too obvious. Belguim and the Netherlands are tied around 350%, with a total of $3.5T between them. Switzerland is an awesome 441% with a sizable $1.3T. The "lands" of Ice and Ire are well known blow-ups with external debt levels of nearly 1,000%. Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Norway and Portugal are all around the 200% mark. Austria played a historical role in the final act of the financial meltdown of the early 1930's with the collapse of the Bank Creditanstalt. Will history repeat itself? Time will tell.

See also:

Monaco Debt Crisis
Pound in for a Pounding?
More Pounding Ahead


I still believe it likely that the British Pound is the most vulnerable of the major currencies, but we will not know from where the break will come until it arrives. But arrive it will.