Will Greece Lead a Rush to the Exits in Europe?

[Agschmid]

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Technically, Greeks are voting this coming weekend only on whether to accept the terms of a bailout deal proposed by the country’s creditors, but other European governments, including the leaders of Germany, France, and Italy, have made clear today that they view it as an in-out referendum on whether Greece will remain within the eurozone. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza party has urged voters to reject the bailout, and as there’s currently no legal mechanism for withdrawing from the monetary union other than a complete withdrawal from the EU, the prospect of a full-scale “Grexit” is looking much more likely this week.

European heads of state intend this as a threat, and a majority of Greeks do want to stay in the Eurozone, though perhaps not under what are viewed as unfairly punitive bailout terms, but some are watching events in Greece this week with excitement. If the Grexit does come to pass, the increasingly influential euroskeptic parties on both the right and left in several countries will view it as a watershed moment in the continent-wide backlash against European centralization.

Spain’s leftist, anti-austerity Podemos party, Syriza’s ideological allies, have organized a rally in Madrid to support the Greek referendum on Saturday, with demonstrators chanting “Viva Greece!” and “We are all Greeks!” and the party’s leader, Pablo Igelsias, referring to Greece’s creditors as a “mafia operation of fiscal terrorism.” Podemos made major gains in local elections in May, and polls show it running even with Spain’s mainstream parties in advance of general elections due later this year.

Who will leave? Who will stay? Read more here.

[HooptieWagon]

1. UK is looking smart to have stuck with the Pound.

[djean111]

2. And Denmark has stuck with its own currency. Was working there at the time this was

voted on, and computer operators I was training told me they would never cede control of their currency to Germany. Looks like they were prescient.

[closeupready]

3. If the Euro has become a tool for monetary enslavement,

then there is no acceptable alternative (in a democracy) to exiting.

[Agschmid]

4. It certainly will signal the *end* of the EURO most likely.

[Recursion]

5. They're out right now

It's not really clear what the Greeks will be voting on; when the banks reopen they won't have euros to hand out, so Greece will be out of the Eurozone.

[Agschmid]

6. Yup it appears we have a default, at least on some level.

[SheilaT]

7. How long exactly have people been predicting

the demise of the Euro?

Has anyone given much thought as to exactly what's involved in going back to the former currency?

1. Print up all the paper money needed.
2. Mint all of the coins needed.
3. Figure out what the exchange rate will be.
4. Set a date for the transfer.
5. Make sure there is as much currency and coinage available for the switchover.

I seem to recall that all that took several years back when the various countries went to the Euro. It can't happen in a short time to return to the Drachma, or any other original money.

[Blue_Tires]

8. Greece leaves, everyone else stays is my prediction...

Unless by some miracle the Greeks get to have their cake and eat it too by staying in the Euro (which their people overwhelmingly want) AND getting the debt written down...

The EU also has to wonder if turning Greece into an economic wasteland for the next decade just to make an example of them is in their best interests -- A failed Greek state could be the anchor that drags the rest of the continent down...

And then the discussion has to turn to the other nations which have been waiting to join the Eurozone for ages already...

[moondust]

9. Does Greece have a backup sugar daddy lined up?

Wouldn't it take a lot of financial backing to get the Greek economy on its feet and converted to drachmas should they leave the EU? Has anybody stepped up to take a chance on backing them? China? Japan? Russia? USA? Bill Gates? Predatory profiteers hoping to make a killing?