CNN: ‘Why Not Let Greece Sink?’

American network CNN reported a story apparently in an effort to give its European readers the answer to the question that lately seems to be on their minds: “Greece: Why not let it sink?”

“Greece may have given us the word ‘democracy’ and many of the principles of civil society. But now it is ‘the sick man of Europe,’ and the people of other European democracies are asking whether it’s worth saving with billions more dollars of their money. Put crudely, their argument is this: So what if Greece slides ignominiously out of the Eurozone?,” is the introductory paragraph of CNN’s article which points out that in “continental terms,” Greece is “peripheral.”

The writer stresses the weak financial position of Greece saying that “it doesn’t sit on reservoirs of oil, and it relies on agriculture and tourism as money-earners. It accounts for just 5% of the European Union’s economic output.”

Explaining the “circulation” of the exploratory mandates from one political leader to another, the article notes that despite the majority of Greeks, 70% appear to want the country to stay in the Eurozone. “A substantial minority have just voted for parties that oppose what they see as austerity imposed by Berlin. They believe the medicine is actually making the situation worse.”

“Is the endless bailout smart economics? Or does it just perpetuate the crisis, as new debt replaces old?,” asks the journalist, referring to a common argument according to which “Greece will never become competitive” as long as it uses the Euro. He also refers to famous U.S. economist Kenneth Rogoff, who has argued that “Athens should be granted a sabbatical from the Eurozone while remaining in the European Union, allowing it reintroduce the drachma at a deep discount to the euro and making its tourism industry wildly popular.”

Numerous articles are being published on a daily basis in the U.S. and Europe referring in one way or another to Greece’s exit from the Eurozone.