Jurgen Stark, the ECB's chief economist and the powerful German member on the bank's inner council, said Greece's problems are entirely "home-made" and do not meet the terms required to trigger the rescue mechanism under EU treaty law, which is limited to countries that face severe difficulties "beyond their own control".
"The Treaties set out a 'no bail-out' clause, and the rules will be respected. This is crucial for guaranteeing the future of a monetary union among sovereign states with national budgets. Markets are deluding themselves if they think that the other member states will at a certain point dip their hands into their wallets to save Greece,"
Truth be told, the EU needs Greece right now more than Greece needs the EU, so I'm betting that Jurgen Stark will eat his words, and soon. But regardless, such articles demonstrate the current frailty of the EU. Nations such as Greece don't print their own money, and so they can't simply inflate their way out of this mess like more "sovereign" nations are trying to do.
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