The reason the Spanish and Irish bailouts happened in fact was to protect the &quot;contagion&quot; spreading to the banks of the &quot;core&quot; countries.<p>Why? Because German and French banks lent huge sums to periphery countries - which is why the bailouts were forced on them.<p>What you are seeing now is the chickens coming home to roost.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.davidmcwilliams.ie&#x2F;2012&#x2F;05&#x2F;10&#x2F;financial-contagion&#x2F;comment-page-2" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.davidmcwilliams.ie&#x2F;2012&#x2F;05&#x2F;10&#x2F;financial-contagion...</a>