Not accounted for in these sovereign debt numbers is the banks' exposure to off-balance-sheet items, equities and commercial and residential loans in PIIGS countries.

FORBES: International Investing

The PIIGS countries include Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain and are grouped together by many analysts because of their similar high levels of debt and spending.

FORBES: Raising The Debt Ceiling Is Just Kicking The Can Further Down The Road

The only real solution for insolvent Europe is to explicitly default on the debt to a level that brings PIIGS countries to a debt to GDP ratio below 60%.

FORBES: Europe's Solution Isn't More Inflation