Guardian
May 23, 2012
The world's biggest ever game of chicken. That's one way of looking at the noises coming out of Brussels and Frankfurt on Wednesday, suggesting that each eurozone country is drawing up contingency plans for a Greek exit from the single currency, that such an eventuality would actually be no big deal, and that Athens might be offered a €50bn (£40bn) sweetener if it decides to call it a day and bring back the drachma.
If the idea is to put the frighteners on Greeks ahead of next month's election, the strategy appears to be working. Support for Syriza, the party led by Alexis Tsipras, is dwindling as Europe's policy elite sends out the message that there is no middle way between sticking to tough austerity on the one hand and leaving the euro on the other.
The next phase of the strategy, assuming that is what is happening, will be for the stick to be replaced by the carrot. Having softened up the Greeks with blood-curdling warnings about the ramifications of seeking to rewrite the terms of the bailout it agreed earlier this year, a few hints will be dropped that perhaps, after all, some of the conditions could well be softened as part of a pan-European attempt to boost growth.
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