[chalst]

Ah, I misunderstood: by free market you meant exchange rates, not the bond market.

But note that the Euro is for the purposes of this situation equivalent to the gold standard. Fixing exchange rates means trading the risk of currency depreciation for an increased risk of default, as we seem to be assuming the bonds are issued in the local currency.

The issue here seems to have been ignorance on the part of bind investors to the reality of the Greek situation.