Stiglitz, 137 economists from 20 countries back Argentina in debt showdown

[sandensea]

2. Well said - and they know it, as most of these hedge funds took out CDS (a kind of insurance)

And therein lies the bad faith: Credit Default Swaps (CDS) only pay out in the event of default.

The bad example was set by Paul Singer and his Caymans-based laundromat NML, which was allowed to cash in on its CDS in 2014 when a "default" was unilaterally declared by the ISDA (of which NML is a member).

But of course it was no such thing: Argentina's payments - on time and in full - were instead impounded by a (presumably bribed) Wall Street judge in order to give Singer his payout.

Singer's NML later made off with an additional 1,180% return when right-wing President Mauricio Macri paid him an over $2 billion settlement in 2016.

Macri then tripled the country's foreign currency-denominated debt to a massive $250 billion - which is why they are where they are on this.

Singer had been a substantial foreign backer of Macri's hard-right PRO party.

Singer, you'll recall, is a major GOP bundler as well; he was reportedly in close talks with Eric Cantor back when the then-GOP House leader was trying to provoke a U.S. default in 2011.

Thanks for reading and sharing your opinions, The Magistrate. All the Best.