Greece's Sad Song

Get out my fiddle--a chest fiddle, not a chin fiddle. It's time to sing a sad song for Greece.

Greece will default, but probably not tomorrow. Europe hopes that Greece won't default until Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Italy recover sufficiently to move out of the Euro zone's weak-sisters category. The latter four countries are working on their problems, and the likelihood is high that their efforts will succeed, given enough time.

The funny aspect of the Greek situation is the attitude of the Communists and other leftists. They like the unrest, and they like to talk about how debt repayment is really a conspiracy by globalized powers to control the Greek economy. In taking this stance, the leftists play on the EU's fear of financial contagion upon a Greek default. They're looking for a sweeter bailout deal. Ah, the tradition of marketplace haggling hasn't died.

Everyone knows that a default wouldn't produce any benefits for Greece. Deep budget cuts would be necessary since Greek debt wouldn't be marketable in normal channels. The banking system would be jeopardized. Drachnas would replace euros.