U.S. next stop on Greece’s debt tour
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Steve Chiotakis: Greece desperately needs more than $25 billion to make payments on its debts. Prime Minister George Papandreou has already toured the capitals of Europe seeking help. Today, he’s in Washington to see what President Obama might be willing to do to help. Here’s Marketplace’s John Dimsdale.
John Dimsdale: If Greece can’t meet its debt obligations, investors could begin to wonder whether any country with red ink, including the U.S., is safe. That’s why the U.S. has a stake in the early resolution of Greece’s debt crisis.
But Rob Dugger, the managing partner of Hanover Investment Group, says as a full member of the European single currency zone, Greece has no business asking for U.S. help.
Rob Dugger: It would be very much like if Arnold Schwarzenegger went to Europe and asked “Please help California.” The Europeans would say “Governor Schwarzenegger, we have every sympathy for you but we’re helping work on Greece. You need to get the United States to help you work on your problems.”
If he can’t get help, Papandreou could turn to the International Monetary Fund for a loan — an embarrassing admission of failure for a Eurozone member. But a stop at IMF headquarters is not on the Prime Minister’s agenda.
In Washington I’m John Dimsdale for Marketplace.
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