Burgess: Pay it off or write it off

PAY IT OFF OR WRITE IT OFF

For very obvious reasons, for most of this year the investment backdrop has been dominated by the issues surrounding the euro and the eurozone.

Investors have come to question the ability of sovereigns to fund themselves, and have aggressively pushed up interest rates in countries with unsustainably large budget deficits. Much of the focus has been on whether the euro will survive, and in what form and constituents. The authorities appear to lurch from one crisis to the next, setting out policy measure after policy measure in an effort to appease the markets and buy themselves some breathing space. The latest policy measure finally appears to be facing up to reality in as much as the authorities are proposing significant fisc...