Eurozone crisis is self-inflicted

[CHIMO]

The current turmoil in financial markets around the world is another illustration of the damage that can be done by a bloated and politically powerful financial sector, combined with finance ministers and central bankers who identify with this sector and have their own rightwing policy agenda.

Welcome to Europe, which has become the epicentre of the new global "financial crisis".

On Tuesday, the focus of Europe's troubles shifted somewhat from Greece to Spain.

At first glance it's not obvious that there should be a crisis in Europe at all. Even if Greece were to default on its debt – and this would most likely be a rescheduling or a restructuring rather than a large-scale cancellation of the bulk of Greece's debt – this would involve a relatively small amount of money compared to the resources that the EU has available to bail out any affected banks. And Spain's debt is much smaller, relative to its economy, than that of Greece: it's about 60% of GDP, well below the EU average of 80%.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/may/26/eurozone-crisis-austerity-euro