John At The Center

Kenneth Rogoff, former IMF chief economist warned that a series of sovereign debt defaults is likely to be in the offing. From Bloomberg:

Following banking crises, “we usually see a bunch of sovereign defaults, say in a few years. I predict we will again,” Rogoff,…said at a forum in Tokyo today.

He said financial markets will eventually drive interest rates higher, and European countries such as Greece and Portugal will “have a lot of troubles….

“It’s very, very hard to call the timing, but it will happen,” Rogoff, 56, said in the speech. “In rich countries – – Germany, the United States and maybe Japan — we are going to see slow growth. They will tighten their belts when the problem hits with interest rates. They will deal with it.”…

Rogoff said Japanese fiscal policy is “out of control.” Japan has the world’s largest public debt, with gross liabilities that are approaching twice the size of the economy.

via Rogoff Foresees A Wave of Sovereign Debt Defaults « naked capitalism.