First published: Nikkei Asian Review, 1/07/2015
If Greece were in Asia, it would be the seventh largest economy, of little geopolitical consequence and soon to be overtaken by Bangladesh and Vietnam. Greece’s size, however, is not the right metric to use when gauging its significance in Europe’s festering saga. This week’s developments surrounding Greece and its relations with creditors are shaping up to be a potentially pivotal and unpredictable moment for global financial markets and, more existentially, for the eurozone.
Ever since Greek voters elected the iconoclastic Syriza party to office in January, the country has been on a collision course with the rest of the eurozone. A temporary compromise in February to keep Greece current on its external obligations and shore up its banking system is now expiring. As headlines have made clear, Greece and its creditors (European governments, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank) have failed to reach agreement…Read more:
