Livin' In America

Ah, condign punishment.

Money quote:

This is a political crisis for Europe rather than a financial crisis because the only way out for the PIGS involves a large bailout from the northern countries led by Germany and France. Germans especially don’t want to pay. It has been clear for some time that the Greeks cheated and lied their way into the eurozone, and for years they have pursued selfish and foolish economic policies. Why, Germans ask with some force and logic, should German taxpayers who cannot retire until their late sixties pay the bill so that Greeks can retire at 55?

The answer from increasingly rattled European elites is that unless the Germans step up to pay Greece’s bills, and quickly, the panic will spread. First Portugal (where the crisis is already beginning) and then and much larger economies like Spain and ultimately perhaps even Italy may need help. At that point the survivability of the euro would come into question.

The sad thing is that The Won is leading us down the European path, even as Europe begins to disintegrate.