Greece must leave the Euro. Please, stop this nonsense now

So, the results are in. Surprise surprise, the same Greek populace that elected the left-wing Syriza party, has voted decisively to reject the EU bailout, with some 61% voting no in yesterday’s referendum.

Athens yesterday was the scene of jubilant celebrations, and citizen after citizen rushed to tell a fascinated media that they had voted for such things as ‘standing up’ and ‘freedom.’


I’m not convinced. It is understandable that, out of desperation, Greek people and left wing fantasists have coalesced around a delusional belief that they can have it all: all the gain without the pain.

It is somewhat akin to me taking out a mortgage. Even if the bank is unwise in lending me the money, as many banks were during the sub-prime era, it’s ultimately my responsibility to ensure I can make the payments.

This is true of the Eurozone: foolish indeed they were to relax their own rules for their own ends, and allowing Greece to join the currency, which, after this weekend’s referendum, is certainly a project in the grip of a deep and significant political crisis.

Nonetheless, Greece is responsible for its mountain of debt. Unfortunately for me, after taking out the mortgage I decide to get some work/life balance and work part-time, but no matter, as I have a credit card, in fact several.

With new-found work/life balance, I embark on a spending spree, maxing out card after card on holidays, cars, trips to the spa and all manner of luxuries. I fail to keep up with the bills and mortgage repayments and, unsurprisingly, my creditors get hacked off with me and start demanding the money.

I go to a nice debt charity who sorts an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) out for me, which I can just about manage if I adopt a somewhat more frugal lifestyle than before. I get annoyed with this. I later choose not to accept the terms of the IVA, and instead go to my creditors and tell them that my decision is to reject their terms. I will tell them when, and how quickly, I’m prepared to pay, and if they don’t like it, shove it!

Most people would agree on two things: firstly, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Secondly, I wouldn’t be deserving of sympathy, having been given every chance to save myself from my own folly. If this sounds like madness, though, remember that this is exactly what Greece has done.

I joked yesterday that they should be kicked out of the Euro because the German taxpayer won’t get any of his money back, so he at least deserves a cheap as chips holiday on the beach. In truth, though, it’s only half a joke.

Eurozone countries will get nothing back. It’s clear that the Greek government can’t pay, however much it arrogantly dresses it up as a defiant refusal. It is absolutely true that German manufacturers reaped the benefits of the Greek spending spree, but they’ve paid the price now. Understandably, they’ve had enough.

It is time to end the endless agonising rounds of meetings. It is time to stop reviewing every new iteration of the Greek government’s half-hearted, ridiculous, back of a fag packet proposals. It is time to boot them out of the Euro and start afresh, probably with new rules and a more solid framework for ensuring the existing rules are properly enforced.

It is time to stop pretending anyone can get any money back from Greece, accept it’s gone and concentrate on the rest of Europe. Greece can only hope that a devalued currency boosts competitiveness, and reverses the dramatic economic decline the country has experienced. In other words, Greece’s solution can only be found outside of the single currency.

Everyone knows it. This is why leftists aren’t the only ones celebrating the referendum results, but Eurosceptic right-wingers are also giddy with excitement. Europe now has to choose whether to give in to Greece’s demands and let the entire Eurozone be blackmailed by it, or be firm and clear: we need to cut Greece adrift and learn from our mistakes.

This does not have to be the end of the Euro. No-one else is in as bad a state as Greece. Even the Greeks largely want to keep the Euro. It is simply the end of the Euro in its current state, but it is an opportunity for reform. Let’s face it, we learn best from post mortems of our biggest failures in life.

Nothing will quieten down the Eurosceptics, let’s just smile politely as they sound off. One choice would demonstrate political integrity, pragmatism, generosity and sound economic judgement.

The other would be a rewarding of excess, a triumph for would-be leftist governments who wish to spend like there’s no tomorrow, and an arrogant refusal to acknowledge a continent-wide failure, however calamitous that lack of acknowledgement would be.

Please, stop this nonsense now, it’s time to say goodbye to Greece.