Germany’s dream of expanding its euro empire took a new hit on Monday. In the Wall Street Journal article, “Greek Debt Hits New Low Monday”, we learn that Standard & Poors cut Greece’s debt rating by 3 notches. It was lowered from B to CCC, oine notch lower than Moody’s CC. This makes Greece the lowest rated country in the SSP index. It’s now lower than Jamaica, Pakistan, and Figi. It’s below Argentina and Equador, wihch have both recently defaulted on loans. The Congo might be worse, but certain countries aren’t rated at all. The chance of default for Greece is put at 74% over the next 5 years.

The bond rating has been lowered in response to Germany’s position that Greek bond holders should share the losses and not just the German taxpayer. This is the position opposed by Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Central Bank.