I confess to having trouble getting my head around just what it will mean if – or perhaps that should be when – Greece and any other of Europe’s embattled economies defaults on its debts. But when I hear the so-called financial experts start talking about another “Lehmanesque moment” I get concerned. Europe might be a long way from Australia, benefiting as it is from Chinese growth, but an international banking crisis soon affects everyone.

The best survey of what sovereign default is and what it might lead to that I have come across appeared last year on Calculated Risk which is high up on the list of my daily must read websites.  Here are the links to a series that will let you share my concern.

Part 1: How Large is the Outstanding Value of Sovereign Bonds?

Part 2. How Often Have Sovereign Countries Defaulted in the Past?

Part 2B: More on Historic Sovereign Default Research

Part 3. What are the Market Estimates of the Probabilities of Default?

Part 4. What are Total Estimated Losses on Sovereign Bonds Due to Default?

Part 5A. What Happens If Things Go Really Badly? $15 Trillion of Sovereign Debt in Default

Part 5B. Part 5B. What Happens If Things Go Really Badly? More Things Can Go Badly: Credit Default Swaps, Interest Swaps and Options, Foreign Exchange

Part 5C. Some Policy Options, Good and Bad

Part 5D: European Banks, What if Things Go Really Badly?