Hedging against risks?

American business magnate Warren Buffett predicts new bankruptcies of American banks. Economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) speak of superficial stability with turmoil already manifesting below the surface. The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, says the global economy is entering a five-year period that will see the weakest economic outlook in 30 years, while David Malpass completed his term as president of the World Bank by delivering a report that warns that, ceteris paribus, humanity is set to lose an entire decade of growth. The common theme of all these warnings is that the next few years will be difficult to very difficult.

Does all this tell us something useful? It does - if we really want to attract foreign capital to invest in Greece or even for markets to lend to us at a tolerable interest rate. An essential precondition for the...