The Greeks are negotiating for another bailout to avoid going into a catastrophic default in March. A more likely scenario is Greece leaving the Eurozone. This is not just about getting its creditors to agree to take a given haircut on their holdings so that Greece can get more money. The aid is being given on the condition of more reforms, which are already tearing apart Greek society.
Reuters reports that Euro zone finance ministers have told Greece it could not go ahead with an agreed deal unless they agree to changes which have caused riots. And Greece has taken a step closer to default with Lucas Papademos, the Greek premier, failing to get party leaders to accept the harsh terms in return for a second €130bn bail-out.
The International Herald Tribune reports that the Greeks have had enough. "Antonis Samaras, head of New Democracy, said, 'They are asking for more recession than the country can take,' referring to Greece's creditors in the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. 'I am fighting against this.'
Most Germans want Greece to leave the Eurozone and return to its former currency, the drachma. As David Paul, president, Fiscal Strategies Group writes, it's time to let Greece be Greece because the solution being imposed on it won't work. "This solution is backwards. Instead of affirming Greece's responsibility for its own choices, it will have been stripped of its sovereignty. Instead of having to face up to the challenge of building its own future with real rules–as ultimately each nation must–it will move forward instead as a vassal state to its Franco-German overlords. Perhaps it is time to gather those ministers and elected leaders into a room and tell them to go home. For all of their sakes, perhaps it is time that they open their eyes and let Greece be Greece. Better now than later, because all is not proceeding according to plan. Because there is no plan. They are just making it up as they go along."
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