Economists like to talk about thresholds that, if crossed, spell trouble. Usually there is an element of truth in what they say, but the public often overreacts to such talk.
Consider, for example, the debt-to-GDP ratio, much in the news nowadays in Europe and the United States. It is sometimes said, almost in the same breath, that Greece's debt equals 153 percent of its annual GDP, and that Greece is insolvent.
Couple these statements with recent television footage of Greeks rioting in the street. Now, what does that look like?