Google trends on the Greek crisis: 12 months ago nobody cared. Then, suddenly, it’s on the front page of the Financial Times. Lesson learned: we have no idea which financial bomb is going to blow up in our faces next. Argentina? Venezuela? Hungary? Ukraine? Ireland? Social unrest in Greece?

Search term “Greek crisis”. Source: Google trends

Even (or should we say “especially”?) the Rating Agencies seem to have been asleep at the wheel:

They did not catch on to the idea something was cooking until the country faced difficulties selling new bonds in January 2010. A glimpse at the current account situation reveals a steady deterioration since the mid-1990’s, with an acceleration in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007:

Sources: IMF, TradingEconomics.com