[gizmo]

> I suppose Tsipras could have foreseen this from a negotiation point of view.

I think Tsipras was naive: he probably hoped Germany would be lenient because the alternative was so unthinkable.

In theory it's great to force a country to make productive reforms that politicians would otherwise refuse. In practice, the reforms demanded here are largely punitive and pointless.

The focus on corruption is a cheap way to claim to moral high ground, and to justify antidemocratic "parental oversight". If Greece allowed the equivalent of A Dutch Sandwich tax arrangement it would be called fraud and corruption. But when the Dutch do this it's somehow OK. Clamping down on corruption in Greece would certainly be a good thing, but the hysteria about corruption in the media is absurd.