The Greek debt talks continued today. The sticking point remains the rate of interest bondholders will be paid on new issues of Greek sovereign debt. The idea is they will exchange their current bonds for new ones that are at least 50 percent less in face value. (Friday I saw speculation that they might be worth between 65 and 70 percent less.)

When you take that big a haircut now, you want something sweet to look forward to down the road. The Greek government doesn't want to give what's left of its future away to high interest rates on these new bonds. We'll see.

Debtors can't be choosers is the lesson for Hungary's extreme right-wing government. The government of Viktor Orban has brought in major constitutional changes in recent weeks The Hungarian opposition say these undermine democracy via rigid gerrymandering of electoral districts and restrictions on freedom of the press among other things.

The IMF, from whom Hungary wants more money, is exercised by constitutional changes that undermine the central bank's independence. So is the EU which must give its bona fides for Hungary to get the loan. No more money until that problem is fixed.