The book titled This Time is Different written by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff in 2009 had after publication some negative publicity about errors in the spreadsheets. Whether or not the used figures are true, in the world of investments it is often said that it is really different now. The four most expensive words are “this time it’s different“, according to Sir John Templeton. There are enough reasons to read this book.

Even after the credit crisis in the years 2007-2009 the book is still very topical, it is mainly about the size of government debts. How big are they, and in particular: when are they too big? The introduction back then had the same impact as ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’ written by Thomas Piketty in 2004.

The book This Time is Different’ gives a very good impression on how to look at Greece. It is the claim that in the past almost no country has been able to recover on its own from a debt-to-GDP ratio of above 90 percent. This percentage, moreover, was a point of discussion when the spreadsheets were checked.

Currently Greece is still very well above this level, and that sets one thinking. With help from the EU in financing this debt, that does not mean that it will follow the thought of ‘this time is different’…

OpinioPro vs This Time is Different

Different visions and opinions will help to understand figures and visions. However, it is not always necessary to start ‘from scratch’. Especially when it turns out that ‘this time is different’ often leads to very expensive mistakes, or in other words history often repeats itself. The platform of OpinioPro offers investment research of more than 50 asset managers for example in the field of central banks. Is the Quantitative Easing policy of the ECB favourable, or is it doomed to fail. Opinions are divided, and that helps to form your own opinion.

OpinioPro has currently over 2,500 investment research reports on these four subjects at its platform. However, it is possible to search for only ‘Quantitative Easing as well and find the most recent reports of experts in this area. The best ‘research engine’ is now available without registration at www.opiniopro.com

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