A great deal of attention is being heaped on the possibility of a bank run across the eurozone. But something just as important is happening: a bond run.
Foreign investors have left the government and corporate bond markets of Italy and Spain in droves in the past year, and there is little evidence of the selling slowing down. If anything, the worry would be that the process carries on for some time, as it has done in Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
There is little doubt that a generalised bank run across several countries would be disastrous. But so far there is scant evidence of it. Deposits at Italian banks have increased in recent months, while those at Spanish banks have only dropped slightly.