Athens' Syriza government has failed to extract any concessions from its international lenders after four months of fruitless talks.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has hinted the country should not remain in the euro at all costs, pressuring Mr Tsipras to back down over his Leftist "red lines" on labour and pensions reform.  The German number two is also thought to have touted the possibility of a "parallel currency" for Greece at a recent meeting of European officials, according to reports in Bloomberg.

Greece, which has been without international aid since August 2014 is also battling to convince lenders of its planned reforms to VAT and agreeing to softer budgetary targets for the next two years...Ms Merkel's comments contradicted Athens' claims that a release of bail-out cash would be agreed within "10 days"....In the comments below, the consensus seems to be

1. The Greeks can never pay their debt

2. Any attempt to manage the Greek economy by EU/EZ is considered intrusive, with comments such as "evil EU", nazi, anti-democratic, etc

3. EU does not have rules or a treaty to expel Greece, even though almost everyone on this forum wants it

So the USA solution, when states or municipalities cannot pay their bills over the last couple of centuries ...California, Louisiana, Detroit, etc

A. Cease all bail out payments

B. Cease all subsidies, credits (Any subsidies normally paid would be used to cover the debt default)

C. Let Greece Default

D. Stop all intrusive attempts to manage Greek economy

E. Advise all European banks that EU offers no guarantees on loans to Greece

F. Greece continues to use Euros (in cash only)

G. Euro notes are printed outside Greece and so such notes would only be sent to Greece in exchange for worn-out notes of same denomination.

H. Greece remains in EU and can vote, but will be no more than a minor irritant

Declare freedom for Greece ... Then it is for Greece to decide to stay or go

The world is sinking under too much debt and an ageing global population means countries' debt piles are in danger of growing out of control, the European chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management has warned. Andrew Wilson, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said growing debt piles around the world posed one of the biggest threats to the global economy.

"There is too much debt and this represents a risk to economies. Consequently, there is a clear need to generate growth to work that debt off but, as demographics change, new ways of thinking at a policy level are required to do this," he said. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has also sounded out a warning about Japan's growing debt pile. The Paris-based think-tank said gross government debt was on course to balloon to more than 400pc by 2040 if the government did not carry out reforms.  Angel Gurria, the OECD's secretary-general, said monetary stimulus and stronger growth alone would not be enough to haul the economy out of its two-decade malaise.  "Japan's future prospects depend on ensuring fiscal sustainability over the long term. With a budget deficit of around 8pc of GDP, the debt ratio is set to rise further into uncharted territory," he said.  Others have warned privately that Japan's debt mountain is unsustainable. "The crunch point is when it starts to run a current account deficit," said one senior banker. "When they stop running a current account surplus and they need our money to survive, we're not going to lend to them at 30 or 40 basis points."  High profile executives including Jamie Dimon, the head of JP Morgan, and Tim Adams, the head of the Institute of International Finance have warned that the raft of regulation introduced in the wake of the 2008 crisis could potentially cause huge volatility in the markets.  While Mr Wilson said the European Central Bank's €60bn a month bond-buying progamme meant it was hard to judge how liquid the market was, he added: "We should expect some growth in volatility - but I do not view that as a negative. In fact, I would view this as getting back to a more normal world. Moving out of an environment where there is a huge amount of government and central bank policy designed to provide certainty and liquidity and to dampen volatility is a healthy sign, not an unhealthy one."

Europe is taking a rather unorthodox approach to the problem of long-term unemployment, according to The New York Times, by creating networks of fake businesses. While engaged in no actual economic activity, the routines of these fake businesses provide unemployed Europeans with the chance to keep up habits, skill sets, social connections, and a sense of purpose. Their incomes come from Europe's social safety net programs, in particular jobless benefits — though these often replace only a fraction of a previous salary. The idea for the fake businesses got its start in Europe after World War II, when many people needed to learn new skills. Now there are 5,000 of them across the continent, pretending to be engaged in everything from selling pets to providing office furniture.  Years after the 2008 collapse, large swaths of Europe remain mired in economic sclerosis. In 2014, just over half of the continent's unemployed had been without work for a year or more, and many had been without work for two years...Amazing how those rabid Europhiles cling on to their beliefs that the EU is something to be proud of. It is a corrupt mess with both Germany and France conducting secret deals and ready to stitch up the other members at every turn.

The sooner this failed experiment collapses in a heap the better...

It is funny , isn't it ? The 'experts' (hacks) keep writing stories predicting the end of the Euro and mass default causing catastrophic financial mayhem, yet still it continues and the Spanish government is looking for ways to prop it up. So we see that NOTHING will derail the corrupt scam which is 'The EU'....5000 years ago man started building temples and worshiping some deity to make the rains come and the harvest good. Today we do the same only we appoint our deities and pray to them to make inflation low and employment high. Never mind that monetary policy, like the rains, can only create favorable conditions for economic growth but it cannot create it. Regulatory environments, tax policy and those old ingredients of capital, labor and technology have to be planted to get a harvest. Worshiping at the temple of Mammon only goes so far... 28 countries, each with its own national identity, each wanting something different from the EU, each with its own fiscal requirements. No wonder the EU is pulling itself apart. The sooner this failed experiment collapses in a heap the better....The people with the blinkers are those with their snouts in the Brussels trough, blind to what is actually happening in the good countries of Europe.  The peoples of these sovereign nations are not melding into obedient 'Europeans' They are proud citizens of their home countries, and they are getting angrier by the day.  If the freeloading elite don't come to their senses soon there is a real risk of violence, which is why idiots like you need to drop your stupid European fantasies and look to see which way the wind is blowing..

Tensions over the future course of eurozone integration have been laid bare as Spain a radical expansion of the European Central Bank's powers over member states. Ahead of a June summit of European leaders, Madrid has urged its fellow member states to expand the role of the ECB in order to curb dangerous "macroeconomic imbalances" building up in the currency union. In list of highly ambitious proposals, Spain also called for the single currency to adopt a common budget for use in emergency rescues, and issue debt in the form of eurobonds, according to a list of proposals reported in El Pais  Both measures are likely to meet the resistance in Germany, Europe's largest creditor, as a further pooling of funds that would effectively subsidise southern debtor states. They would also likely require a reworking of Europe's treaties - a shakeup that has been ruled out by Berlin as Britain also seeks to renegotiate its relationship with Europe. Highlighting the euro's exposure to "asymmetric shocks", the blueprint urges for a revolution in the ECB's mandate, requesting the central bank adopt tools to prevent soaring debt levels and crippling unemployment.  The direction of eurozone integration is up for question as France and Germany draw up plans to overhaul the euro ahead of an EU leaders' summit next month.  On Monday, it was revealed that Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Francois Hollande had agreed to push ahead with greater integration but ruled out the possibility of a treaty change to Europe's existing legal framework.  Price stability is the overriding objective of the ECB, as enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty - the founding document of the euro.  But Madrid's ambitious calls could see the ECB expand its powers and emulate the US Federal Reserve, which operates on a dual mandate that includes an unemployment target. Spain has the highest level of youth unemployment in the 19-member bloc at over 50pc.  Madrid's plans highlight the rift between northern and southern members over competing visions for the single currency.   Germany and its creditor allies are seeking to enshrine greater fiscal discipline into the euro's legal framework, while debtor states, including France, have called for greater investment and pooling of emergency funds. Allowing the ECB to take a central role in dictating government economic policy would arguably require a reworking of Europe's treaties, say analysts.

 

I don´t have a crystal ball…. So is difficult to speak about what could be the situation in a scenario of “NO Euro” ,…. BUT, in my opinion (and taking in account the huge amounts of money managed by the Market strong hands, and the incredible instability caused by the Global crisis ....where only a rumor can tumble the market for a country ) …. Is that most of the European countries would be in a very, very harsh position.  Remember the attacks of Soros against the pound (when the Market was far away smaller tan now), look at Switzerland plummeting industries and the Swiss central bank failure to pledge the Swiss franc with the euro …. Well!!... The situation NOW could be nuclear in the absence of the Euro net.  So,…. When you are bad mouthing the actual situation of Europe .... you should think in the other possible scenario. It is not in the EU's interest that any of the subject nations should be comfortable under austerity measures.  The purpose is not to make their economies stronger because inevitably the Euro will come out of remission, a remission bought at great expense through QE and dodgy bond sales, and will once again burn through the EZ. Obviously the most vulnerable countries are those in southern Europe and the first to suffer but without integration (called for by Merkel in 2011 and applauded by Cameron as both inevitable and desirable for EZ countries, which is like saying amputation is inevitable desirable to save a leg when what is preferable is not to suffer the injury sustained by adopting the Euro in the first place, or joining the EU) and may even threaten Germany. The idea is that the Euro should have force integration and when it didn't that austerity measures would finish the job. When Draghi recently talked about "supervision" by Brussels, he didn't just mean Greece and he really meant "integration.  The trouble is if the nations under austerity think austerity is a cure or become complacent...

Europe faces the risk of a second revolt by Left-wing forces in the South after Spain's, Portugal’s Socialist Party vowed to defy austerity demands from the country’s creditors and block any further sackings of public officials. "We will carry out a reverse policy,” said Antonio Costa, the Socialist leader.  Mr Costa said a clear majority of his party wants to halt the “obsession with austerity”. Speaking to journalists in Lisbon as his country prepares for elections - expected in October - he insisted that. Portugal must start rebuilding key parts of the public sector following the drastic cuts under the previous EU-IMF Troika regime. The Socialists hold a narrow lead over the ruling conservative coalition in the opinion polls and may team up with far-Left parties, possibly even with the old Communist Party.  “There must be an alternative that allows us to turn the page on austerity, revive the economy, create jobs, and – while complying with euro area rules – restore hope to this county,” he said. The plan would appear entirely incompatible with the EU’s Fiscal Compact, which requires Portugal to run massive primary surpluses to cut its public debt from 130pc to 60pc of GDP over 20 years under pain of sanctions. The increasingly fierce attacks on austerity in Lisbon are likely to heighten fears in Berlin that fiscal and reform discipline will break down altogether in southern Europe if Greece’s rebels win concessions. Worry about political "moral hazard" is vastly complicating the search for a solution in Greece. “Greece is the testing ground and everybody is watching very carefully. That is why the Spanish and Portuguese prime ministers have been so hawkish,” said Vincenzo Scarpetta, from Open Europe.