Reply #13: You write as if it's a one way street, but it isn't.

[girl gone mad]

Greece's debts were Germany's surplus. Greece was locked into an unfortunate exchange rate when it signed the Maastricht treaty, then given artificially low interest rates and encouraged to run up debts. Both forces greatly benefited Greece's European trade partners. Austerity will only serve to reverse this trend, resulting in eroded demand across Europe.

There is no reason to punish Greece now for the mistakes its past leaders took in adopting foolish neoliberal/neoclassical economic policies. Greece should abandon the failed Euro project and resume a sovereign currency.