Financial Times
November 10, 2011
Christos Chanos sits in a conference room at his family’s sun umbrella business in Athens and ponders one of the most pressing questions confronting his crisis-hit nation: should Greece leave the euro?
The head of a company founded by his grandfather in the ancient market stalls of the Monastiraki neighbourhood, he has first-hand experience weathering the destabilising effects of a debt crisis that has held Greece in its grip for nearly two years.
He understands the argument that reintroducing the drachma – which Greece swapped for the euro in 2001 – would enable the country to lower its costs and regain competitiveness. But, like many others, he is reluctant to go down that road. “If you ask me if we never should have entered, I could have a long discussion,” says Mr Chanos. “But at this point, I think it would be a huge distraction. What would happen the day after?”
More than a decade after the birth of the single currency, that question is being asked with increased frequency across Europe, and at the highest levels. In what may one day be seen as a pivotal moment for the euro, the leaders of France and Germany openly speculated last week about the possibility of a Greek departure, shattering a long-standing taboo.
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