Meaning Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, of course, both of whom appeared on the PBS New Hour November 2 (fast forward to about minute 27), talking about our financial crisis in the context of historical crises. Rogoff’s first sentence is about “ignorance and arrogance.” By the end, they are talking about prospects for sovereign debt defaults.

Commenters on this blog have said that my worries about U.S. indebtedness are overblown, because other countries also have high indebtedness. From Rogoff’s perspective, that is a reason to worry about sovereign debt defaults in other countries, not to be sanguine about our prospects. As always, keep in mind that both R&R and I would count a large unanticipated inflation as a default.

Pointer from Kalpa