No BELL Prize

Via Edward Hugh, I see that the BELLs — Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — are now being lauded as great success stories for having maintained their euro peg and avoided default.

Here’s what their success looks like:

Eurostat

Their determination to stay with the euro and service their debts is impressive. But they have all taken huge hits to their real economies. They have made a desert and called it internal devaluation.