The European sovereign debt crisis came back with full force on Tuesday, riots and Nazi uniforms included. German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens, sparking substantial protests and violent clashes with the police. Hours before, the International Monetary Fund had released a report in which it downgraded its 2012 and 2013 global growth targets.
Athens continues to negotiate with the Troika to get a 2-year extension for its deficit targets, but reports surfaced indicating Troika estimates for Greek debt-to-GDP were raised to 179.7% in this year and 181.3% in 2013. Despite Mario Draghi’s open-ended bond buying, Europe is still deep in the rabbit hole.