Eurozone will collapse...

[Osem]

Yes, and it's not like it was entirely predictable. I mean who could have foreseen that the German tailored Euro-straightjacket might be tolerated when times were good but the cause of enormous pain when the inevitable happened?

[Osem]

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel amid mounting concern that Athens is running out of money.

The two countries have been at odds over Greece's efforts to renegotiate the terms of its international bailout.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Mr Tsipras had warned Mrs Merkel it could not meet imminent debt payments without new aid.

But Mrs Merkel said on Friday there would be no new money without reforms.

Spain's Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, backed Germany's position, saying on Sunday that Greece must implement promised economic reforms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32012066

According to the FT, Greece's precarious financial position was underlined in a letter sent by Mr Tsipras to Mrs Merkel on 15 March.

In the letter, he writes that Greece faced a short term cash flow-crisis and may have to choose between paying pensions and wages and meeting debt obligations.

Mr Tsipras seems clear which option he would choose, writing that to add to Greece's social crisis was "a prospect that I will not countenance".

That'll go down well...

[Kursk]

Page 3 of The Hun is predicting a blitzkrieg of Greek sunbeds this summer...

[Ignitionnet]

William Hill just closed the book on Greece leaving the Eurozone in 2015 and their being the first to leave.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

William Hill just closed the book on Greece leaving the Eurozone in 2015 and their being the first to leave.

If they leave they will not be the last. The flood gates may open.

[Osem]

Greece would struggle to find creditors outside the EU and IMF, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said.

He said it would be welcome to try to find investment from Beijing or Moscow, but may have difficulties.

His warning came after fears of a Greek debt default saw its borrowing costs jump 3.5 percentage points to 27%.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32335758

The International Monetary Fund has warned Greece in its toughest language to date that a delay in debt payments would be an unprecedented event with no moral justification.


"We have never had an advanced economy asking for payment delays," said Christine Lagarde, the Fund's managing-director.


"It is clearly not a course of action that would be fit or recommended. This would mean additional contributions by the international community and some of these countries are in a direr situation than those seeking the delays," she said, making it clear that the Fund would not bend its rules to avert a showdown.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/e...nt-relief.html

Incidentally this could all kick off just before the General Election. Next week is the official deadline. A crazy two weeks in the Eurozone could help the Tories here.

[Osem]

The more chaos in Eurolalaland, the better it appears we are doing but the truth is it will hurt us. Good job all our eggs aren't in that particular basket.

[richard s]

Just what the Russians are hoping for a broken up European Union. We cannot go back to the old days. Unity is Strength.

Originally Posted by richard s

Just what the Russians are hoping for a broken up European Union. We cannot go back to the old days. Unity is Strength.

Homogeneity and unity are not one and the same.

It is perfectly possible for an association of sovereign nation states to show unity. Sadly, the Euro-project is attempting to force homogeneity, with the inevitable consequence that unity suffers and eventually breaks down - which is exactly what is now playing out in Greece.

[richard s]

Nothing wrong with bringing the people together, with our petty singular mind set. Past history should tell us something about ourselves.

Originally Posted by richard s

Nothing wrong with bringing the people together, with our petty singular mind set. Past history should tell us something about ourselves.

You appear to be missing the point.

The economic sanctions forced on Greece are not "bringing people together" - they are driving people apart.

Unity is good. What the EU is doing is not unity.

[richard s]

But what did Greece have to offer in the first place. Greece should not have been allowed into the EU until it had its finances in order.

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by richard s

But what did Greece have to offer in the first place. Greece should not have been allowed into the EU until it had its finances in order.

Exactly, but the Euro was never about producing wealth for the citizens of the EU and everything about a vanity project of Eurocrats trying to vie with the strength of the Dollar.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by richard s

Just what the Russians are hoping for a broken up European Union. We cannot go back to the old days. Unity is Strength.

I think you're confusing the EU and NATO here?

Perhaps the Eurozone creditor nations should've thought about unity, etc, before they bailed out their banks and handed the Greeks the bills?

The Greek bailout was a creditor nation bailout - the troika giving money to insolvent German, Dutch, French, etc, banks that made loans they shouldn't have.