Well, your house is used as collateral for the loan, otherwise the bank would never lend you that money. I'm not an economist, but I don't think that, in the c

Well, your house is used as collateral for the loan, otherwise the bank would never lend you that money. I'm not an economist, but I don't think that, in the case of Greece, the "house" (whatever it stands for) was used as collateral. I don't think there really was any collateral. I guess lenders just hoped that Greece would pay back, or would be pressured into paying back.