Joe Stiglitz and Hugh Hendry duked it out last night on BBC’s Newsnight.<\/p>\n
Stiglitz says that betting on a default is absurd. Hendry is betting on exactly that happening in Greece.<\/p>\n
From Hendry’s opening line you can tell this is going to be a good fight:<\/p>\n
“Um hello? Can I tell you about the real world?”<\/em><\/p>\n Then the BBC anchor asks (at 7:28): “So you want to see Greece tumble and the Euro currency tumble?”<\/p>\n Hendry: “Absolutely.”<\/em><\/p>\n He goes on to say that it’s recognizing the unsustainable debt and then Stiglitz cuts him off:<\/p>\n “That’s absurd.”<\/p>\n Watch the video after the jump. Here’s a bit more transcribed:<\/p>\n BBC anchor (around 5:00): “But isn’t the truth, Hugh Hendry, that if Greece defaults, that you, that hedge funds like you, make millions?”<\/p>\n “…Some hedge funds make millions. Yeah, the hedge funds who – hedge funds, speculators, and independent central banks are what stands between an economy and hyper-inflation.<\/p>\n “It’s very hard to create inflation when you have free markets. When you have the discourse and dissemination of information.<\/p>\n “Look what happens – you get into difficulty and these guys over here [pointing at Stiglitz and Spanish Ambassador to the UK, Carles Casajuana] say, “hey we don’t like it.”<\/p>\n “Suddenly the truth hurts! Suddenly we want to abandon the truth. Suddenly speculation becomes a pejorative term!”<\/p>\n Casajuana: “No no no, we don’t want to abandon the truth. We admit we have a problem…”<\/p>\n Video:<\/p>\n \n