What the Greece crisis means for investors

Investors might be forgiven for thinking we have been transported back to 2008. The volatility of stock and bond markets over the past week or so has been an uncomfortable reminder of the gyrations that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Now as then only massive intervention by the authorities in Europe calmed panicky investors and sentiment remains fragile. As with the banking crisis in 2008, the sovereign debt crisis has been a long time in the making, with countries on the Southern periphery of Europe, most notably Greece, living beyond their means for many years. A combination...