Moody's, a credit-rating agency, shocked Japan by placing it under review for a possible credit downgrade, even though Japan is the world's biggest creditorcountry.
We're already seeing the Chinese government, our country's biggest creditor, asking the U.S. to guarantee that rising rates on Treasuries won't erode the value of its trillion-dollar holdings.
Relying on vast infusions of money from the IMF could actually worsen the problems of a country like Italy, since the fund's presumed preferred-creditor status would push private bondholders further down the pecking order.