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Comment by tomjen3 | Hacker News Reader

Why doesn't Greece default on hits debt if things are really so bad as the article makes it out to be?

Because they share a currency with most of the rest of Europe and defaulting on their debt would cause the value of that currency to tank. Which could very well tear apart the European Union entirely.

That's the big reason why the IMF was willing to bail them out.

A Greek default has no impact on the Euro. A Greek default will drill the French and German banks that hold their debt. That's the issue.

European leaders have already set aside a bailout package for their banks in case any pigs-nation defaults. It's hard to imagine the defaulting nation to remain in the Eurozone though.

The penalties of defaulting are probably already negotiated to far outweigh the penalty of stark austerity measures.

but there is no way of getting out of the eurozone, both in the "no actual procedure" and in the "no actual chance". If greece got out of the euro, it would get instant weimar-like inflation.

Moreover, the SPV and the bailout plans in the eu seem to be more like smoke and mirrors than concrete stuff (e.g. bailing out greece with money coming from portugal which is in the same position)

No would only happen if they started to print currency (which they can't even do).

Greece debt may be denominated in Euros, but that is the only thing it would have in common with German debt.

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