William J. Holstein

Hungary Is Rocking World Markets?
JUNE 7--So the merest hint of financial difficulties in Hungary is knocking down the value of the euro and roiling world markets? Give me a break. The world would scarcely notice if Hungary simply were swept away up by the Danube River.

What seems to be happening is that some big money people in hedge funds, investment banks and others are jumping on the hint of any less-than-perfect policy coordination in Europe. The entire continent seems to be under assault. Yet the business media does not ask: who is doing this? Who is spreading the reports of impending doom to create a climate of "contagion?"


The business media, and particularly the international business media, has been so thoroughly degraded by the closing of bureaus and the sacking of experienced reporters that no one is asking the key questions. Neither Hungary nor Greece nor Portugal really matter in the larger scheme of Europe or the world. For varied reasons, they have never been shining examples of good governance. So why now? Why now are smart money people turning them into an international crisis?