Banking: Europe’s battle to fix the ‘doom loop’

In 49BC, Julius Caesar stood on the banks of the Rubicon with his most loyal veterans from the Gallic Wars. As he crossed the river onto Roman soil triggering a civil war, the historian Suetonius records he uttered the phrase “Alea iacta est” (The die is cast). March 9, 2012, marked an equally momentous point for Europe. The Greek debt default was the biggest in history, wiping €100 billion from its €350 billion of debts, and the first by a developed economy since 1948.