Has a Greek exit from the euro zone become inevitable—and desirable? After years of holding back the flood, some European leaders appeared ready to let Greece go after an anti-austerity backlash in May 6 elections left the country without a government. "The future of Greece in the euro zone now lies in Greece’s hands," said Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, in a speech to the lower house of parliament in Berlin on May 11. "Solidarity is not a one-way street."
The issue is whether Europe should keep financing a project that hasn’t succeeded and that the supposed beneficiary may not even want. Over the past two years Greece has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets it agreed to in exchange for hundreds of billions in bailouts. A May 12 poll showed 78 percent of Greeks want to keep the euro. Yet the polls also show rising support for the anti-austerity Syriza Party, which favors scrapping what it terms "barbaric" bailout agreements. Syriza could become the biggest vote-getter in new elections now planned for June.
by Carol Matlack on May 15 2012
Greece never dies! I really don't think Greece will exit the eurozone.
Posted by: Anastasia | 06/03/2012 at 10:14 PM