Barnaby Joyce continues to lead the charge on government debt, and how it is a very bad thing. But compared to a lot of countries, Australia is in a very good position.

Over in Europe, things are not so good. Greece for example is severely hampered by it's debts. But how did those debts occur? Could it be that the "free market" was behind it?

The Guardian reports that Goldman Sachs is taking a lot of heat at the moment, because they "helped Athens borrow cash without putting it on its books as a loan".

The so-called swap deal, permitted under EU law at the time, helped Greece meet eurozone limits on government borrowing. Under the arrangement between Goldman and Greece, the government in effect obtained a $1bn loan without adding to its public debt burden.

So, the same institutions that caused the GFC in the US, were also behind the massive debt levels that Greece now faces. Deals that made Goldman Sachs a lot of money in fees, and possibly more by "creating and selling securities and then betting against them"

Of course, Goldman Sachs is maintaining that they did nothing wrong.

"The Greek government has stated (and we agree) that these transactions were consistent with the European principles governing their use and application at the time".

That may well be the case, but is it as Ben Bernanke says "counterproductive"? Is there a conflict in interest between financial institutions and their government clients?

When I was reading this article I wondered, have our state and federal governments done the same thing in their rush into privatisation?