My Big Fat Greek Bankruptcy

Tartan clad Greek protests against cuts

Not an original slogan, I admit, but one that is truthful none the less. Bankruptcy is on the Hellenic horizon. Greece is now caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock appears to be the Greek people, fed up with conniving politicians who have been fiddling the books as much as the Eurocrats have been. After all, the European accounts have never been signed off, so they are the last people on earth to speak to others. The hard place is the Greek parliament, full of political parties that are demanding austerity that none of their voters is prepared to accept.

The end game may be on Tuesday, it may be a week on Tuesday or this time next year. But the final result will be that Greece will default on their debts and the Euro bigwigs should get that one ringing between their ears. Financial deafness is seen as a virtue in Brussels.

David Cameron says the Eurozone should not fail. It will fail, because it is running a single currency in seventeen separate states, each with its own taxing agenda. You can't have a federal currency in a mere alliance of nations. Quite a few Eurocrats see this and are maneuvering  for a more federal Europe. Without referendums, of course.

Maybe Greece will be a turning point in European politics. The hope is that they don't go down a blind alley but take to the open road for a bright new future. With drachmas and ouzo aplenty.

Posted in: debt crisis,Euro,Europe,Greece