Euro deeper into debt

Whilst the QE tapering hogs a lot of the headlines gold and silver bullion investors should not lose sight of the mess in Europe getting worse not better.  A lot of the Euro’s issues stem from years of racking up unsustainable debt and then recessions and more recently austerity measures dampening the very economy which strives to pay it off.  Consider the following just released Q1 2013 debt-to-GDP numbers:

• Euroarea: 92.2%, up from 88.2% a year ago
• Greece: 160.5%, up from 136.5% a year ago
• Italy: 130.3%; up from 123.8% a year ago
• Portugal: 127.2%, up from 112.3% a year ago
• Ireland: 125.1%, up from 106.8% a year ago
• Spain: 88.2%, up from 73.0% a year ago

With the threat of rising yields and not to mention their derivative exposure the threat of a far reaching collapse certainly remains.