The sovereign debt crisis was actually a banking crisis in disguise.

Evidence

But it is also a dangerous idea because the way austerity is being represented by both politicians and the media—as the payback for something called the “sovereign debt crisis,” supposedly brought on by states that apparently “spent too much”—is a quite fundamental misrepresentation of the facts. These problems, including the crisis in the bond markets, started with the banks and will end with the banks. The current mess is not a sovereign debt crisis generated by excessive spending for anyone except the Greeks. For everyone else, the problem is the banks that sovereigns have to take responsibility for, especially in the Eurozone. That we call it a “sovereign debt crisis” suggests a very interesting politics of “bait and switch” at play. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 33

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘bait and switch’ labeling critique directly parallels Mattei’s argument that fiscal crisis frames misassign blame and enable austerity. — connects to: The sovereign debt crisis is a transmuted and camouflaged banking crisis — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 35; Governments mislabel banking rescues as sovereign overspending because honesty would be politically fatal — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 242; The European debt crisis resulted from banking losses, not sovereign overspending — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 40 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The sovereign debt crisis is a transmuted and camouflaged banking crisis #corroborates (1.00) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 35
• The European debt crisis resulted from banking losses, not sovereign overspending #corroborates (0.95) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 40
• The Eurozone crisis was wrongly blamed on sovereign fiscal profligacy #corroborates (0.90) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 152
• A banking guarantee transformed private debt into sovereign debt overnight #corroborates (0.90) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 184
• Governments mislabel banking rescues as sovereign overspending because honesty would be politically fatal #expands (0.85) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 242