"bankrupt states in Greece or Ireland" (HSBC/Spiegel)

[dowtchaboy]

Interesting article by CEO of HSBC here:
freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=23986

I thought the casualness of even the question about “bankrupt states … Ireland” says a lot!

…
SPIEGEL: Are you at all concerned about bankrupt states in Greece or Ireland?

Green: I do not wish to, and I cannot, rule out such shocks in the future. But I don’t expect them. However the issue of exit strategies is another matter.

SPIEGEL: By that, you mean how do the central banks of various countries plan to stop pumping money into the global economy? After all, higher interest rates will just making servicing debts more costly.

Green: It’s a complex issue and every country has to develop its own approach. Australia has already begun to raise interest rates, even though the country was not hard-hit by the financial crisis.

SPIEGEL: In your new book “Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality and an Uncertain World”, you write that you expect a “new world order” to begin taking shape. What will it look like? And what should it look like?

Green: I see the G-20 group as an indication that this new order is already underway. In the past developing countries were not represented in such groups. But now they are growing in self-confidence and stepping onto the world stage.

SPIEGEL: It can’t be a coincidence that your CEO is moving his office in the New Year from London to Hong Kong.

Green: That’s where our bank was first established. In other words, we are returning to our roots. Asia’s global economic dominance will continue to grow, while the dominance of the West slowly declines. I’m convinced of that.
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