| For me, there are several reasons why the rest of the eurozone should help Greece get back on its feet, rather than only give it more loans: 1) Due to being in the monetary union, Greece is not able to print more money, devalue its currency or other monetary policies to help its economy. Greece is paying the price of being in a monetary union, and it should either get help from the other members of that union, or it is not really a union. 2) Also, take into account that Germany and other countries are benefitting from this monetary union by being able to use a currency that is devalued due to the poorer countries, and therefore is able to increase its export. 3) Much of the bailout went into the banks of other eurozone members therefore helping them as well. 4) Do not forget that Greece if not in the eurozone would be able to default on its debts, live on the primary surplus it is now generating and when it is considered a good debtor to get loans again. Instead of having to exit the eurozone (which would be a bad sign for the whole union) and default on its debts (which would mean other countries losing money) and THEN grow, it may be beneficial to everyone to do a debt restructuring. 5) Greece is paying an interest on the loan given to them to be able to pay the older debts to the ECB and others. They are not able to pay that interest on the subsequent loans and are asking to be able to use that for economic growth to pay the older loans! In a sense, you can see that as debt restructuring, which can also happen in other ways. This way creditors will also get their money back, altough restructured or payed later. |