jacob navia wrote:

> > I suspect that even before they're done with the PIGS
> > the Germans will run out of a) money b) patience.
>
> Who are the "PIGS"?
>
> Well, financial slaves call Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain
> PIGS in a nice acronym to make us forget WHO ARE THE REAL PIGS!

As a side note, there is an interesting pattern regarding the use of the
infamous P.I.G.S. acronym.

When the accusations of economic woes were only tacked on Portugal, Ireland,
Greece and Spain, it was used extensively, along with any detrimental and
insulting pun that anyone could muster and a string of blanket accusations
of incompetence attributed to entire countries, eventhough there is nothing
in common between those countries' problems.

When Italy also found its public finances in shambles, the media was quick
to expand the acronym to include them, and so the same string of insulting
accusations were extended to also include them, and the P.I.I.G.S. was born.

Yet, mysteriously, when the economy of Great Britain made the news for its
equally disastrous state, suddenly the use of the P.I.G.S. acronym (or
P.I.I.G.G.S.) simply ceased. No one refers to the P.I.G.S. anymore.
Instead we are dealing with a world financial crisis, a global recession, an
unfortunate twist of fate which no one could ever foresee, and simply a
natural, cyclical economic event which could happen to any state, no matter
how ingenious, competent and exemplary their leaders are.


Rui Maciel