Kicking Greece's debt bomb can down the road again, the EU and Athens have agreed to a four month extension of the terms of their bailout. This is a big climb down by Greece, who insisted the terms be changed. But it hardly solves anything and raises a fundamental question being faced by all debtor nations. When does sovereign debt relief become outright stealing? At issue is Greek insistence that it should be granted special terms that allow it to avoid paying back the money it owes, and be freed from the rigid austerity measures imposed on them when they borrowed $280 billion to keep from defaulting on it's debt. They want the conditions of the loans lifted so they can massively increase their spending. As Nobel Prize wining economist Joseph Stiglitz points out, creditors also have a responsibility: Debts are contracts -- that is, voluntary agreements -- so creditors are just as responsible for them as debtors. In fact, creditors arguably are more responsible:...(Read Full Post)