Building a European Monetary Fund

[ivnryn]

You lose fiscal sovereignty if you're broke, while owing a fortune. That applies to people, households, small businesses, big businesses

None of those entities has sovereignty. OTOH, you can often run away to another country and end up not paying your debts.

and countries. If you have to borrow a ton of money, the lender more or less gets to set terms, and its no different for the Greeks.

This does not apply to a sovereign country. All loans to countries are subject to the country deciding that it doesn't want to pay them back. Ofc, that would damage the country's reputation.

[Passer-by]

That's a fair enough position (the bolded part).

The thing is, if they do create "a Treaty which only contained provisions establishing an EU version of the IMF", this could and would be distorted and spun as containing God knows what by Eurosceptics and other political movements seeking to gain publicity.

Yeah, I am pretty sure that an EMF would usher in conscription to an EU Army, Tony Blair as EU President, abortion and worse.

[hiding behind a poster]

This does not apply to a sovereign country. All loans to countries are subject to the country deciding that it doesn't want to pay them back. Ofc, that would damage the country's reputation.

And thus increase the premium they'd pay on any future debt, just like a person who defaulted on debt. Which was kinda my point. Again, the fact is that if you're virtually bankrupt and absolutely HAVE to borrow money (as a bankrupt state does, it can't just fold, or throw itself off a bridge), then whoever is lending you the money calls the tune and sets the terms. That applies regardless of whether its a bank for a person, a buyer of bonds for a country, or an EMF-style fund for a country. In all cases, if the broke entity doesn't like the terms, tough.