The government would have had to default, the banks would have been ruined, and both would have struggled for years to regain the trust of financial markets. As a result, interest rates would have remained high for a long time to come, impeding efforts to restore growth.
好处将包括剧烈贬值，这将重塑一些这个曾经高速增长的经济体的活力。但代价十分恐怖。希腊政府将不得不选择违约，银行将遭到重创，两者都将挣扎多年以重新获得金融市场的信任。结果，利率将在相当长的时间内保持高位，阻碍重塑增长的措施。希腊政府在这一恐怖情景面前退缩了，选择了“安全”的紧缩选项，这有什么可奇怪的？