Déjà Vu Again

A new year, but the same old problems. The Euro continues to beg to be put out of its misery:

Portugal is resisting pressure to become the next eurozone nation forced into a massive financial bailout.

Perhaps worryingly for the Portuguese people, the noises out of Lisbon match those Ireland made in the days leading up to its own European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout worth £72bn.

But there is a growing belief that Portugal may also have to climb down in its opposition to a rescue package, which some commentators estimate could reach £66bn.

And guess what?

Under any deal, Britain is committed to making a contribution.

Bailing out Portugal is to save the Euro by trying to protect Spain - whose banks are massively exposed to Portuguese debt. Spain is too big to be bailed out. This is desperation to protect contagion spreading to Spain, which may or may not work. Naturally, during the processes of the euroslime protecting their own interests, the question of Portuguese democracy, and voter's wishes, will trampled on, burnt gleefully and buried six foot under:

It’s believed that Portugal is negotiating a private placement. Their objective is to take some pressure off, rather than rely solely on the market and having to defend her sovereignty in the press.

It simply can't continue like this.

Update: from the Guardian:

"A bailout for Portugal is inevitable – foreigners own 80% of Portuguese debt and they have decided to stop lending to Portugal," said Jonathan Tepper, chief editor at Variant Perception, a research firm in London.