afew:

In its latest Quarterly Review, the Bank for International Settlements came out with some shocking figures. German banks have a $200bn exposure to Spain, $175bn to Ireland, and $50bn, respectively, to Greece and Portugal, making a total exposure to the four countries of almost $500bn, more than 20% of German GDP. French banks have an exposure of $250bn to Spain, $80bn to Ireland, $100bn to Greece, and $50bn to Portugal, also almost $500bn in exposures, but more than 25% of French GDP. Total foreign bank exposures are well over $1100bn to Spain and $800bn to Ireland.  Add the four countries together, and you are arrive at more than $2 trillion.

The Bank of International Settlements published a 68-page report in which half a page is occupied by these statistics. The exposure to other OECD countries is nowhere to be found. Germany has larger aggregate debt than Spain and higher public debt-to-gdp ratio - who's exposed to that? BIS isn't telling.

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan