“I would like to ask all of you not to continue at this time this discussion on a new haircut?.?.?.?It is not in your interest.”
So said Wolfgang Sch?uble in Athens last week. I do not blame Germany’s finance minister for refusing to discuss a Greek debt write-off at this time. His country’s federal election is only two months away. Given Berlin’s approach to crisis resolution, I struggle to think of a more certain way to lose the vote than to say: “All right, then, let’s start to be realistic right now.”
But Mr Sch?uble went a step further in his remarks by raising the Greek national interest. It is, of course, for the Greeks themselves to define their own interest.