A recent poll suggests that 58% of SYRIZA supporters would rather return to the drachma than to remain in a single currency if that meant harsh austerity measures. From this viewpoint, it is not unlikely that the leftist Greek government would choose to default and return to the drachma if the party’s “red lines” are crossed.
There has been a great deal of speculation concerning this, with the Telegraph being among the most persistent with articles focused on Greek plans to return to the drachma. SYRIZA has already claimed that it is determined to pay wages and pensions and may take the unprecedented step of missing a payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) instead.
Goldman Sachs economist Howard Pill says: “The platform on which the current Greek government was elected is simply unfeasible. The Greeks cannot have their cake and eat it. A hard choice has to be made between a euro exit and an adjustment to remain part of the single currency.”
The article questions Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ ability to keep Greece in the euro. In Sunday’s Le Monde, the latter accused creditors of making “absurd demands” and blamed the “asphyxiating democracy in Europe” for Greece’s woes. “If some, however, think or want to believe that this decision concerns only Greece, they are making a grave mistake. I would suggest that they re-read Hemingway’s masterpiece, ‘For Whom the Bell Tollls’,” said Tsipras.
