The comparison with the Great Depression in connections with bank runs is not a good one. Yes, there may have been one or the other bank run bank in those days,

The comparison with the Great Depression in connections with bank runs is not a good one. Yes, there may have been one or the other bank run bank in those days, but the main feature of the Great Depression was rampant unemployment - more or less exactly what Greece is already experiencing. Greece must exit the Euro to avoid prolonged Great Depression-style unemployment. So this becomes a short vs. medium term tradeoff. Introducing a new currency will most likely be chaotic, but in the medium term it allows Greece the flexibility to restart the internal economy. Without introducing a new currency, the short term chaos can be avoided at the cost of a very prolonged downturn that is destructive for the country's prospects and may lead to political chaos in the medium-to-long term.