The typical bank is capitalized with equity, long term debt, short term debt, and deposits.

But what matters is long term debt.

The rating agencies have long placed Greek debt deep in junk territory, and are now giving Portuguese and Irish debt the same status.

But these arguments do not withstand scrutiny. If the tax deductibility of interest made debt attractive, then bankers should be indifferent between long term debt and short term debt.

The medium term fiscal outlook continues to deteriorate while, in the short term, politicians play with the country s valuable AAA credit rating by arguing like schoolchildren over how to extend the debt ceiling.

They could not stop the Greek government from borrowing (indirectly) from the European Central Bank (ECB) as long as credit rating agencies deemed Greek debt creditworthy.

Unlike insurance companies and pension funds, they have no long term debt or future payment obligations.

Long term sustainability of debt depends mainly on the growth and export prospects of debtor countries.

US regulators are strongly hinting that they will allow long term debt to default in a bank failure, while affirming that they will find a way to bail out short term debt.

A long term alternative requires some capacity to write down debt where it has reached excessive levels.

The revenues gained from selling the electricity is used to repay CRC Breeze Finance s long term debt.

If financial markets view them as likely to follow through, the too big to fail boost may apply more to the big bank s short term debt than to any banks long term debt.

The G 20 will not achieve growth and stability without a renewed focus on long term debt reduction.

The Paris Club Agreement with Iraq of November 2004 represents a significant step towards long term debt sustainability.

America s current budget negotiations should focus on achieving a credible long term decline in the national debt, while protecting economic expansion in the near term.

Debt and inflation will reappear as medium term problems, so it is critical that the fiscal ammunition used helps long term productivity, growth, and sustainability.

Austerity, it was argued, was needed to stem the rise in the debt ratio and safeguard long term growth.

Restoring growth in the short term while addressing debt problems in the medium and long term may well be the only valid response to the crisis.

It can be done Germany is reducing its debt burden to sustainable levels while strengthening its long term growth prospects.

The time has come for a better understanding of the connection between environmental and natural resource risk and sovereign credit risk. Only then will investors, rating agencies, and governments be able to plan over the medium to long term with the knowledge needed to ensure long term economic growth and stability.

Short Term Talk, Long Term Cost

But hints of new fiscal imprudence or of backsliding on long term debt consolidation and reduction can drive up borrowing costs dramatically.

After all, even deficit hawks acknowledge that we should be focusing not on today s deficit, but on the long term national debt.

Long term Recommendations

Recognizing that commodity prices are an important element for heavily indebted poor countries that are commodity dependent in maintaining long term debt sustainability,

We urge all creditors to support the call for intensified debt relief, without jeopardizing the long term viability of the international financial institutions.

Higher and pro cyclical equity capital requirements on banks, combined with a requirement to raise contingent long term debt debt that converts into equity in a crisis is a better way forward.

Any holder of Greek debt, especially long term debt, must calculate the likelihood that Greece s political system will prove strong enough to push through the reforms needed to enable the country to service its debt fully (and on time).

Recognizing that commodity prices are an important element for heavily indebted poor countries that are dependent on commodities for maintaining long term debt sustainability,

(r) Long term contracts

So long as spending goes to investments yielding a modest return of 6 , the long term debt will be reduced, even as the short term deficit increases, owing to the higher tax revenues generated by the larger output in the short run and the more rapid growth in the long run.

Long term stockholders alone do not encourage a firm s managers to manage for the long term.

They fail to build long term markets and long term opportunities, the crux of business success.

Most importantly, they have to be long term, since reconstruction itself is a long term process.

The policy has short term and long term objectives.

Third, Germany s long term interest rates would be unaffected, because Germany would neither be guaranteeing the debt conversion scheme nor backing the ECB s bond issues.

5. Stresses the need to ensure the long term financial viability of the Institute as it relates to its debt and rent and maintenance costs

High public debt levels would still have to be reduced to create fiscal space and keep interest rates low enough to restore long term confidence.

Nonetheless, Europe needs to be much more generous in permanently writing down debt and, even more urgently, in reducing short term repayment flows. The first is necessary to reduce long term uncertainty the second is essential to facilitate near term growth.

If the deficits are monetized by central banks, inflation will follow the short term deflationary pressures if they are financed by debt, the long term solvency of some governments may be at stake unless medium term fiscal discipline is restored.

So the long term could be long in coming.

Moreover, by measuring the too big to fail subsidy on the basis of banks long term bonds, the Goldman report misses much. It is a big bank s short term debt that sinks it in a crisis, and it is this debt that is bailed out first.

The problem is that such long term investments bring results only in the medium and long term.

The Long Term Investment Challenge

Strategic long term vision statement.