Hi Jeff,

I am very confused, Richard. Please help me. I thought that LOANS got the world into its current mess. The remedy is more LOANS? (Is this medicine like "the hair of the dog that bit you"?)

LOL! I think you're right! However, I think the 'loans', in practice, will have adjustable payment schedules or dates, depending on whether Hungary can pay or not.

I read awhile back, that one of the big problems that Hungary is having is the precipitous drop of the Florint vs the Swiss frank. During the big real estate boom in Hungary, the money was borrowed from the Austrian bank Reiffeisen(sic). Reiffeisen borrowed the money from UBS in Swiss franks, and loaned many billions to Hungary, and elsewhere in eastern europe. With the drop in the florint vs the frank, not only is Hungary having trouble with the loan, but the amt. of florints now required to make the payments has gone to the moon! The amt. of the loans Reiffeisen has make to eastern europe is sufficient, apparently, to bring them down, and in turn, UBS.

rk