This is the moment when history will record the demise began of the Eurozone and the euro in their original form, set up on an unworkable financial model without any coherent system of governance. It will also record that this is the moment when Germany once again over reached itself and destroyed its leadership authority in Europe. It signals the end of the European Union in its current form. It is the biggest crisis since the end of the Cold War.
What has been revealed is a shocking coercion of a small Member State by a gang of frightened Finance Ministers who deliberately enforced a set of unworkable proposals which would ensure that State was left in penury forever, in order to conceal from their voters the truth; that through bad governance and lax diligence they had five years ago allowed Greece’s borrowing to get out of control. As a consequence many European banks were technically bust and needed rescue. But instead of accepting the fact that Greece had gone bust, they poured taxpayer money into Greece so that it could repay their own banks and financial institutions. They were not bailing out Greece. They were bailing out themselves.
This preposterous process is now into its third installment. Greece remains in the grip of extreme austerity with 30% unemployment, 60% among the young, an economy in seizure and its money run out. Yet of all the bailout money thus far, Greece itself has seen less than 10%. 90% of it goes back to the lenders to hide the reality that they hold worthless assets. This is not capitalism. It is old Soviet style command economics.
But today it is over, although the end game will be long and traumatic. The IMF has released the advice it gave to the Finance Ministers before they took the decision to go ahead. It is unequivocal. The deal is unreasonable and cannot work. The integrity of the Eurozone is completely shot. The future of the EU, and whether the UK remains a member of it, is now wide open.