Afterwards, The Party Can Start Again, Right?

Greece and Portugal are at it again.

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Portugal and Greece were downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, which said the European Union’s new bailout rules may mean that both nations eventually renege on their debt obligations.

S&P cut Portugal for the second time in a week to the lowest investment-grade rating of BBB-, three steps below Ireland. Greece’s rating fell two grades to BB-, three levels below investment grade.

Bankruptcy is what happens when you can't pay your creditors and people use words like "renege on their debt obligations." Insolvency is when you're spending more than you make. From the looks of things, Portugal is both bankrupt and insolvent. Writing off debts solves the bankruptcy problem, but they're still going to need to slash social services spending to deal with the insolvency issue.

All those protests against austerity bought nothing at all. Mathematics will always win in the end. Spending your morning lying in bed with an ice pack on your head and drinking Alka Seltzer is all well and good, but it doesn't mean you can pop open the Ron Rico rum in the afternoon.