Tom Spencer

Greek default in all but name

Post author By Tom Spencer
Post date November 27, 2011
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Whatever you say it is, it isn’t ~ Alfred Korzybski IN OCTOBER 2011, private banks accepted a 50% writedown on Greek debt. European leaders negotiated the writedown to avoid a technical default. It is surprising that ratings agencies did not classify the writedown as a default when you consider that S&P defines sovereign default as […]

Tags consulting, credit default, Economics, Greece, greek default, Management Consulting, private-sector involvement, PSI, sovereign default, the costs of sovereign default

Economics

Would a Bund by any other name smell as sweet?

Post author By Tom Spencer
Post date November 26, 2011
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ON WEDNESDAY November 23rd, an auction of German government bonds (known as “Bunds”) managed to sell only €3.6 billion out of a total €6 billion worth of Bunds on offer (source: Economist). Germany is one of the most financially stable countries in the Euro-zone, so its failure to sell all of its Bunds is worth […]

Tags Bund, consulting, credit default, debt crisis, Economics, German bonds, Greece, Management Consulting, sovereign default, the costs of sovereign default

Interviews

The Hospital Bed Question

THE guesstimate question is a usual type of question that you can expect to be asked when interviewing for a position at a consulting firm. Here is one to test your mettle. The Hospital Bed Question The question is this: How many hospital beds are required in New York city to provide for all of its pregnant […]

Tags case interview, consulting, guesstimate question, Management Consulting, number question, The Hospital Bed Question