Is the U.S. Economy Prepared for the Fallout From Greece?

[MindMover]

Greece’s political and financial uncertainty has Europe on edge, as the continent waits for a new round of elections on June 17 to determine whether a new government will seek to renegotiate loan agreements with international creditors, possibly triggering an exit from the euro zone and a deepening financial panic across the 17-member bloc of nations.

Here in the U.S., nervous investors and policy-makers are watching the unfolding drama with a sense of déjà vu. As Greece’s former finance minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou recounted to FRONTLINE in Money, Power and Wall Street, U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, called him almost “nightly” beginning in 2009 with the message: “We’re very worried. We’ve seen this before.”

But what has changed since then, and just how prepared is the U.S. for the fallout from a potential financial crisis in Europe? For that, we asked two experts with sharply different takes:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/money-power-wall-street/is-the-u-s-prepared-for-fallout-from-greece-two-views/

[pinto]

1. Heard Fareed Zakaria this morning say that Greece has repeatedly been in default since independence.

I guess the change here is the EU connection and the stifling unemployment.

[girl gone mad]

2. Let's be totally honest.

The US economy is unprepared for any and all financial disruptions. Instead of building a firewall after the last crisis, our policymakers dug in their heels, threw wads of money at Wall Street and left the real economy to rot.

[kickysnana]

3. +1

[Fuddnik]

4. +11

[snot]

5. Since we still have no transparency on derivatives,

which were the primary source of losses in 2008, I don't think anyone knows the answer to that question.

[mother earth]

6. Is it an accident we are not prepared for round two of this global heist? Aren't we enjoying the

jobless recovery? Certainly rule of law will not allow for continued plundering and pillaging.

Do we now understand predatory capitalism & the corprotocracy? We are being led through the nose by the complicit powers that be, finally...transparency.

Edited to make some popcorn.