News Links: Greek Default: Why Now May Be Best Time to Do It

Last week in general gave life to the recovery theme, with 15 of 23 indicators beating expectations and causing some economists to raise their growth outlook for the full year. So, with sentiment running so garishly positive, why not go ahead and get that pesky Greek default and all of the accompanying futile denial out of the way already?

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich had ties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae during his time as speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999, adding to questions about the nature of his relationship with the home mortgage companies.

Denmark’s credit crunch is getting worse as businesses accuse banks of withholding funds and the financial regulator warns that deteriorating asset quality may put more lenders out of business.

The majority of Germans feel the euro currency bloc would be better off if debt-crippled Greece left it, a poll published in mass-selling newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed on Sunday.

Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded Belize’s credit ratings deep into junk territory, warning that the country appears to be less willing to service its external debt.

"Irish household debt is about 200pc of disposable income and, at that level, it could take between five and seven years to get that back down to ‘normal’ levels," he said.

AMAZON Kindle Fire owners are less satisfied than those who own an Apple iPad, according to a new survey. Seventy-four per cent of those who own an iPad said that there were "very satisfied" with the device, compared to 54pc who said they felt the same about the Amazon tablet.

The L.A. Times reports on numerous Scottish users who, even though their phones are set to "English (United Kingdom)", can’t get through to Siri clearly.

When you’ve got inmates of a correctional facility manufacturing decals for state police cruisers, hilarity is practically guaranteed to ensue. Vermont prisoners got away with quite a prank, sneaking a pig into the state police crest decals that adorned two doors of 30 cruisers for the last year.

Credit Agricole’s plan is to avoid incurring the additional capital costs by selling 80 percent of its exposure on new project finance loans to outside investors, including insurance companies and pension funds. The bank will accomplish this by forming a new unit within the investment bank that will both originate the loans and sell them to investors.

China’s annual economic growth could be cut nearly in half this year if Europe’s debt crisis tips the world economy into a recession, putting pressure on Beijing to unveil "significant" fiscal stimulus, the International Monetary Fund said.

Romania’s Prime Minister Emil Boc has stepped down to "defuse political and social tension" after a series of protests against austerity measures.

For two years, he corresponded with Fannie executives and lawyers. Fannie later hired a Washington law firm to investigate his claims. In May 2006, that firm, using some of Mr. Lavalle’s research, issued a confidential, 147-page report corroborating many of his findings. And there, apparently, is where it ended. There is little evidence that Fannie Mae’s management or board ever took serious action. Known internally as O.C.J. Case No. 5595, in reference to the company’s Office of Corporate Justice, this 2006 report suggests just how deep, and how far back, our mortgage and foreclosure problems really go.