Threats...

A threat must be specific, credible, and imminent to be optimal. Note the use of tacit or explicit government guarantees are being shopped round the globe and the ham-fisted manner they are forwarded (the worst case being Mr. Frank here in the U.S.)

March 7 (Bloomberg) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the euro region must be ready to help Greece should it struggle to fund its budget deficit, arguing that the country is “under attack” from so-called speculators.

“We have measures, we are ready, we are determined,” he said in Paris after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. “Market speculators should know that solidarity means something.”

EU leaders are trying to warn investors not to make further bets against Greek bonds after the government last week passed a further round of austerity measures and successfully sold 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) in debt. The spread between the yield on Greek 10-year bonds and their German counterparts fell to the lowest in three weeks on March 3.