Big bailouts, bigger problems

Sean is a former general counsel of the IMF. He is currently a professor at Georgetown Law and SciencesPo, and an adviser at Rothschild & Co.

Sovereign debt crises tend to follow a pattern as recognisable as the stripes of a zebra. Every one is subtly different, but the fundamental features are the same.

A struggling country unable to refinance its debts approaches the IMF for a loan to avoid default. The IMF obliges, provided the country…