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# taz.de -- Grexit and the Eurozone: Destroyed confidence
> The monetary system is based on confidence, and that confidence has been
> shattered. The end of the monetary union is dawning – even if Greece
> remains in the euro.
Bild: The Euro will be busted from within – or burned.
World history is being made: Whatever might happen in Greece during the
next few days, it will transform the eurozone forever. The disintegration
of the currency union has begun, even if Greece were to remain in the Euro.
The shut banks throughout Greece are a new symbol for the slow erosion of
the eurozone. Every financial system is built on confidence, and that
confidence is sapped.
The European Central Bank actually had no choice. It could not fail to
ignore the fact that there was no way to reach an agreement between Greece
and the leaders of the eurozone. As a consequence, the ECB had to cap the
level of emergency loans to Greek banks.
It’s the European governments that are to blame for trying to impose a
one-sided austerity regime on Greece. Their finance ministers have at no
point advanced any proposal worthy of the name. In recent months both sides
kept repeating they were „converging“, when in fact it was only Greece that
was making concessions. The rest of the eurozone stubbornly refused to
yield.
It’s quite likely that Greece will surrender in the end. Most voters want
to stay in the eurozone, and they want to save their assets and deposits
being frozen at Greek banks right now.
## Busted from within
Yet even if Greece bows to the dictate, it is no „victory“ for the other
European finance ministers. Fear will continue to eat its way through the
whole monetary union. Whenever a country runs into difficulties in the
future, angst-ridden citizens will rush to empty their bank accounts in a
panic reaction. Worse still: Since a country’s exit from the eurozone seems
conceivable from now on, banks will factor the risk into their calculations
of interest rates.
Currently Italian, Spanish and Portuguese companies are compelled to pay
higher interest on credits than German companies, simply because their
headquarters are in Italy, Spain or Portugal. This distorts competition –
always in favour of Germany. The euro, while it still exists, is thus
busted from within.
It may seem paradoxical, but the Greek crisis would have afforded an
opportunity to make clear, once and for all, that the monetary union will
hold together unconditionally. This would have allowed the union to
consolidate. Europe’s leaders, however, are moving in a different
direction. We are currently witnessing the beginning of the end.
4 Jul 2015
## AUTOREN
Ulrike Herrmann
## TAGS
taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
taz international
taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
taz-Texte zur Euro-Krise auf Englisch
## ARTIKEL ZUM THEMA
After the Euro Summit in Brussels: Thus fails Europe
Thanks to a loathsome alliance, Merkel and Schäuble have been able to
impose all of Germany’s demands on Greece. The result is a regime of
sanctions and coercion.
Economist about the ECB and Greece: Like setting off a nuclear bomb
The ECB denying Greece emergency loans would be blackmail, writes the
economist Martin Hellwig. A crisis like 1931 could be created.
After the Greek referendum: History in the Making
The outcome of the referendum is clear. Now more than ever it’s up to the
ECB, alongside the Greek government, to come up with solutions.
Angela Merkel and the Greek crisis: Is the Chancellor invulnerable?
Angela Merkel is prepared to push through a third aid package for Athens.
The opposition accuses her of wanting to help the Greek banks, not its
citizens.
Crisis in Greece: Europe’s helpless leftists
Syriza’s politics was a proposal for the system to show good will. This was
both naïve and impassioned.
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