"It now costs more to insure Californian municipal debt against default than it does bonds issued by the government of Kazakhstan. The central Asian country satirized in 'Borat.'
That is neither a joke, nor hyperbole. Californian munis cost 2.6% of face value per year to insure, reports CMA DataVision in London, which tracks bond insurance data. Kazakh bonds: Just 1.8%. It is 'now less expensive to insure Kazakh debt than that of Greece, California and various other entities,' confirms CMA spokesman Simon Mott. (Crisis-stricken Greece, incidentally, costs about the same as California).
Borat, one. The Terminator, zero."
That is neither a joke, nor hyperbole. Californian munis cost 2.6% of face value per year to insure, reports CMA DataVision in London, which tracks bond insurance data. Kazakh bonds: Just 1.8%. It is 'now less expensive to insure Kazakh debt than that of Greece, California and various other entities,' confirms CMA spokesman Simon Mott. (Crisis-stricken Greece, incidentally, costs about the same as California).
Borat, one. The Terminator, zero."