Kenya could join list of states that have faced bankruptcy

NAIROBI: Call them PIGS, PIIGS, PIIGGS, or whatever. It doesn’t really matter because we know the jargon. It’s a derogatory term which refers to EU member states whose economies have been on the verge of collapse. The infamous group includes — depending on the speaker — Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Great Britain, Greece and Spain. France escaped the tag by the skin of its teeth. As I write, some of them are on life support, while others are on a slow and painful mend. There’s heated dispute on how they got there, but there’s agreement that sovereign debt is the key denominator. In layman’s language, the ratio of debt to GDP can bankrupt a country. That’s why Kenya could be the next PIG.

The European Union has not been the blissful marriage its engineers promised. Yoking together unequal — and dissimilar — economies and socio-political cultures — has virtually failed. Absorbing weaker economies under traditional models of integration and free markets has wreaked havoc. This has left Germany — the anchor of the EU — with buyer’s remorse. To the chagrin of the PIGS, the Germans have cast themselves as “hard working, ethical, and fiscally responsible” as opposed to the “profligate, lazy and gluttonous” PIGS elites. Some see racist overtones and the spectre of the Germans of yore — ala First and Second World Wars. It hasn’t helped that German officials don’t hide their contempt for the PIGS. But Germans will have to bail out the PIGS.