Greece Defaults. What now?

[MikeRox]

routsounmanman said:

MikeRox said:

The spotlight is on Greece because you're quite simply bankrupt. Cannot afford to sustain your current way of life and are now throwing all the toys out of the pram because of this.

Now, yes, of course. We have closed the banks, for crying out loud! At the start of the crisis though, Greece, Ireland and Portugal where not that much different (although I admit Greek economy is the weaker of the three).

It's not the Greek people's fault though. Greece simply should never have been allowed to join the single currency. It was said at the time, and it is glaringly apparant now.

 

Totally agree here. I could advocate why returning to national currency would be beneficial for us, enduring the short-term pain.

Sadly this is where Greece's problems kick in. The logical thing, would be to reduce Greece's debt, and put the country on a sustainable path back to prosperity. However, Portugal and Ireland took their medicine without such concessions. More so though, if Greece is allowed haircuts on it's debts, Spain and Italy etc will start to demand the same.

There is also the fallout in Germany where the population seem to be incredibly reluctant to any kind of support for Greece. I suspect Angela Merkel would be more forgiving in terms, were it not such a vote loser in Germany.