Default vs. Delay: Dangerous Euro Zone-IMF Split Persists over Greek Debt

[sysop]

Euro-zone finance ministers meeting in Brussels this week have been unable to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on how to ensure that Greece's debt load comes down to manageable levels. Germany and other European countries continue to reject a new debt haircut. The standoff could become dangerous.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-868463.html

[Inglenda2]

It is rather strange to find people asking whether Britain has a future as a member of the European Union? It was after all Britain’s man of the last century (Winston Churchill), who suggested the idea of such a Union to General de Gaulle in the first place.
It does not take a lot of intelligence to notice that Prime Minister David Cameron doesn't have a realistic answer to any sort of question, let alone that of Europe. However, his threats to veto the EU budget may turn out to be a blessing for us all. The way taxpayers money is being wasted by the European Commission and Parliament is scandalous. We would all, at least financially, be better off without them.
Greece is possibly the worst example of financial incompetence, but certainly not the only one. The Euro was introduced without a safe foundation of common tax and social systems within the member states. It was forced onto the populace of Germany without a democratic vote and has already created a large amount of poverty amongst the retired people of that country.
Of course it is wonderful to enjoy a peaceful Europe, with open borders and free trading. Few would wish to argue about such advantages, but we should not make the same mistake as Frau Merkel. Europe is a collection of states seeking to live in peace and co-operation, it is not the Euro! That is a currency which from the start was almost doomed to fail, due to the lack of a sound basis.
That is also the real reason for Euro-zone finance ministers finding it so hard to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, on how to ensure that Greece's debt load comes down to manageable levels.
A private household, which lives above its level of income, would be forced to sell the family silver, why should a nation be treated differently?