Europe after the Syriza victory

Things will change in Europe but the Euro will survive

by Kumar David-February 7, 2015, 12:00 pm 

It is unlikely but not impossible that Greece will be forced out of the Eurozone. The Syriza government wants to avoid a painful "Greexit" and European and German capitalism does not want a shake up endangering the foundations of the Euro. Most likely is a game of brinkmanship with both sides compromising at the eleventh-hour. Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras, however, cannot retreat on two matters - there has to be some relief on life and limb crushing austerity, and secondly a part of the proposed privatisation package will have to be shelved. The big threat facing European capitalism is that if Spain follows Greece electing the similar-to-Syriza left-populist Podemos alliance at the next election, the entire Eurozone will unravel. Recall also that the anti-Euro rightwing is gaining ground in many European countries, notably France. There is no mechanism to exit the Euro as such an eventuality was not imagined; the messy exit of two countries followed by unravelling of the Euro will create a global financial catastrophe on the scale of the 2008 melt down of the American financial economy.

Europe After the Syriza Victory - Things Will Change in Europe but the Euro Will Survive by Thavam Ratna