Well, let's see. Tax collections in Greece are at a little over 10% what's owed compared to 97.5% in Germany, deficit spending is astronomical, they have hardly

Well, let's see. Tax collections in Greece are at a little over 10% what's owed compared to 97.5% in Germany, deficit spending is astronomical, they have hardly any exports except for tomatoes and olives, have been using cheap credit to splurge for over a decade with no means of repaying their debts, and the so-called austerity was a farce in that it failed to achieve any significant improvement in their financial situation, or the goals they were meant to reach. Greece was ranked the most corrupt nation in the EU. Greece has a thriving black economy which is unofficially at around 35% of the total economy. On top of that, Greece was understating their deficit figures for years. Their national debt stands at €340 billion today, give or take a few billion. Interest rates for Greece hovered at around 18% before they had the Euro, and not many were willing to lend to them. Later, cheap abundant credit helped them increase state spending on pensions, jobs, and benefits, all with borrowed money, while barely being able to manage to pay the interest on their debts; this brought them great political mileage at the time. Now that the payments are due, €45 billion has left Greece in Q1 of this year. On June 15 alone, banks saw cash outflows of €400 million - yes, that's in one day. Youth unemployment is at 50% and nearly a quarter of a million people have left Greece for good over the past five years. Now most of the country is up for sale, right down to their public infrastructure, ports, and so on, with very few buyers. Austerity amounts to little when the rot is systemic at this scale. Greece should have never been in the EU in the first place, and they would have retained the Drachma if they were truly interested in sustainable long term stability. I feel for the Greek people, but a cheap bailout is absolutely not the solution to this problem today. Greece was "set up"? Hardly. They set themselves up.