Nothing there, folks. Move along

"Financial markets woke up to the fact that there was nothing there."

No, this quote is not from an article on the big subprime financial meltdown. It's from an article on the indifferently sorry state of affairs in sovereign debt.

Whereas that "wake up call" in the subprime meltdown knocked huge chunks out of stock and financial markets around the globe, it doesn't even register on this Ground Hog Day repeat. The alarm doesn't seem to work any more. Markets are merrily dancing and taking us higher and higher, like a Sly and the Family Stone song.

Here's the WaPo article to go along with the quote:

Emergency plan fails to boost Greece

Greek borrowing costs spiked Tuesday and an International Monetary Fund team departed for Athens amid concern that an emergency plan offered by the country's European neighbors will not avert a crisis in the deeply indebted nation.

The hope was that the pledge by neighboring nations would reassure markets and lower Greece's borrowing costs, allowing it to raise the money it needs as officials carry out an economic restructuring plan.

But an initial Greek effort to sell bonds after the plan was announced fell short of expectations. Rates have continued rising, as has the gap between the interest rate paid by Greece and that paid by financially stable European countries such as Germany

Rising government debt among the world's developed economies has become a growing concern, with borrowing levels at historic highs and more countries -- including the United States -- approaching levels that some consider unsustainable.

The emergency plan "was basically an unworkable fudge -- smoke and mirrors -- in the hope that the markets would think some solution was in place," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist with the IHS Global Insight consulting firm. "Financial markets woke up to the fact that there was nothing there."