4 ms·

Sorry to be nitpicky, but Italy is the first I in PIIGS, the second being Ireland.

by Kliment 15y ago

guelo 15y ago
oops, you're right, though I should have mentioned that even France is being affected now, the 5th largest economy.
- kanamekun 15y ago
  There was a great quote about France's economic reliability in Michael Lewis' recent Vanity Fair piece: << The idea he and his fellow dissident German economists have cooked up is to split the European Union in two, for financial purposes. One euro, a kind of second-string currency, would be issued for, and used by, the deadbeat countries—Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and so on. The first-string euro would be used by “the homogenous countries, the ones you can rely on.” He lists these reliable countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, and (he hesitates for a second over this) France. “Are you sure the French belong?” “We discussed this,” he says seriously. They decided that for social reasons you couldn’t really exclude the French. It was just too awkward. >> http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-201109 http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-2...
hugh3 15y ago
Sorry to be even more nitpicky, but... in what sense is it not the other way around?
- Kliment 15y ago
  Originally it was just PIGS, standing for Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain. Ireland got into financial trouble later on, and was then inserted into the acronym, forming PIIGS. No idea why it got added to the middle, but Italy was definitely in there first, so by convention they get listed in that order.
  - Andrew_Quentin 15y ago
    You are incorrect. It was Portugal, Ireland, Greece and possibly Spain. Greece is deep in trouble, Ireland had to borrow from EU and UK earlier this year and its economy is in deep trouble, i.e. people emigrating in droves trouble, not sure about Portugal but I think they got some bail out money too. Italy is a very recent addition, only last month, and has not had any bail out money and hopefully will not require any because it is too big to bail out.
    - Kliment 15y ago
      The acronym was first used in 2007, as far as I can tell, and Ireland was added to it in 2008. The most recent crisis Italy is going through is indeed a recent addition, but it is by far not the first crisis, and the acronym is much older than this. Here is an example of usage in an article from 2008, before the shit Ireland was in was exposed: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/06/28/why-pigs-can-t-fly.html http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/06/28/why-pigs-ca...

Sorry to be nitpicky, but Italy is the first I in PIIGS, the second being Ireland.

by Kliment 15y ago

Sorry to be nitpicky, but Italy is the first I in PIIGS, the second being Ireland.

guelo 15y ago

oops, you're right, though I should have mentioned that even France is being affected now, the 5th largest economy.

kanamekun 15y ago
There was a great quote about France's economic reliability in Michael Lewis' recent Vanity Fair piece: << The idea he and his fellow dissident German economists have cooked up is to split the European Union in two, for financial purposes. One euro, a kind of second-string currency, would be issued for, and used by, the deadbeat countries—Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and so on. The first-string euro would be used by “the homogenous countries, the ones you can rely on.” He lists these reliable countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, and (he hesitates for a second over this) France. “Are you sure the French belong?” “We discussed this,” he says seriously. They decided that for social reasons you couldn’t really exclude the French. It was just too awkward. >> http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-201109 http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-2...

hugh3 15y ago

Sorry to be even more nitpicky, but... in what sense is it not the other way around?

Kliment 15y ago
Originally it was just PIGS, standing for Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain. Ireland got into financial trouble later on, and was then inserted into the acronym, forming PIIGS. No idea why it got added to the middle, but Italy was definitely in there first, so by convention they get listed in that order.
- Andrew_Quentin 15y ago
  You are incorrect. It was Portugal, Ireland, Greece and possibly Spain. Greece is deep in trouble, Ireland had to borrow from EU and UK earlier this year and its economy is in deep trouble, i.e. people emigrating in droves trouble, not sure about Portugal but I think they got some bail out money too. Italy is a very recent addition, only last month, and has not had any bail out money and hopefully will not require any because it is too big to bail out.
  - Kliment 15y ago
    The acronym was first used in 2007, as far as I can tell, and Ireland was added to it in 2008. The most recent crisis Italy is going through is indeed a recent addition, but it is by far not the first crisis, and the acronym is much older than this. Here is an example of usage in an article from 2008, before the shit Ireland was in was exposed: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/06/28/why-pigs-can-t-fly.html http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/06/28/why-pigs-ca...