Is A Two Speed Europe Back On The Agenda?  

The eurozone crisis is reaching end of the beginning. For too long we have limped on with a pretence from European leaders that Greece can somehow survive in the Eurozone. The reality is that Greece is now completely uncompetitive and has been fiscally irresponsible. Greece does not have the infrastructure to collect taxes properly; the Greek pensionable age is far too young; the public sector is far too powerful, and the riots on the streets show clearly that the public is deeply resistant to the level of austerity that is necessary if they are to pull through within the Eurozone terms. Even with the change of government, I think it is inevitable that Greece will default. It needs to do what it should have done eighteen months ago: leave the euro and renegotiate its debt. The markets can cope with an orderly sovereign debt default; they cannot cope with complete uncertainty and a lack of...