Main focus of Friday, May 25, 2012

Speculation about Athens' euro exit

Barroso has called on Greece to honour its commitments. (© AP/dapd)

The EU heads of state and government are apparently set on keeping Greece in the Eurozone, provided it adheres to the austerity policy. But exiting the euro makes more sense in the long term than following the troika's austerity dictates, some commentators maintain. Others fear an exit will be the end of the European dream.

Athens must exit even if euro dies

The EU heads of state and government clearly want to keep Greece in the Eurozone. But the country's exit is the most reasonable long-term solution even if it means the end of the euro, writes economist Jacques Sapir in a commentary in the left-liberal daily Le Monde. "Either the EU countries affirm their willingness to invest in the Greek economy, enabling it to at least partially recover its competitiveness, which has sunk by 35 per cent since 2002. Or it will be necessary to opt for a Greek exit from the Eurozone and a major devaluation (50 per cent) of the drachma. This solution, as hard as it is, is preferable to continuing the austerity policy agreed on by the troika and Greece. ... Such a solution would probably be a death knell for the euro. But this death knell has already sounded with the Spanish crisis and the return of the Irish crisis." (25/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Jacques Sapir
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Merkel's austerity threat to Monetary Union

Above all Germany's crisis policy is endangering the Monetary Union, writes the liberal business magazine The Economist: "Only if Europeans share a sense of common purpose will a grand deal to save the single currency be seen as legitimate. Only if it is legitimate can it last. Most of all, it is a test of Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel maintains that the threat of the euro's failure is needed to keep wayward governments on the path of reform. But German brinkmanship is corroding the belief that the euro has a future, which raises the cost of a rescue and hastens the very collapse she says she wants to avoid. Ultimately, Europe's choice will be made in Berlin." (25/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Germany, » Europe
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Greece's euro exit catastrophic for Europe

A Greek exit from the Eurozone would be a fatal blow to the European project, writes the leftist weekly WOZ: "If Europe decides to make an example of Greece the consequences for the entire continent will be destructive and do lasting damage to the dream of a united Europe. Six decades of European integration would suddenly be on the line. The continent would be thrown back a century to the times of competing nation states with their respective hegemonies. There is a lot at stake. One can only hope that the decision-makers in Athens, Berlin and Brussels are aware of their historical responsibility." (24/05/2012)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Jens Berger
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

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