Greek Government on Brink of Collapse

Leaders from with Greek's struggling government are calling for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister George Papandreou in hopes that his removal will allow for the ascendance of a ruling party that will stop the planned referendum on the debt deal. Of course, Papandreou is doing everything he can to try to stay in power in Greece, even if it means voting to have Greece default on its debts and remove itself from the Euro.

Increasingly, economists are calling for Greece to simply default on its debts and drop out of the European Union. Doing so would be harmful for Greece and devastating for the Euro, but it would likely prove to be the fastest route for Greece to return to some sort of financial normalcy. By continuing to accept new bailout packages and austerity measures, Greece is essentially subjecting itself to sovereign debt slavery for decades to come. And even with harsh austerity and rescue plans, if the Greek and European economies don't start to generate significant growth, Greece and the Euro are going to crumble anyway.

With one major U.S. financial player, MF Global, already failing under the weight of European debt exposure, the fear is that many more European and U.S. banks would be at risk should Greece default. The likely domino effect of a Greek default and exit from the Euro would probably force Italy and Spain out of the Euro as well, thus triggering widespread collapse of the European financial infrastructure. Markets have been largely positive on the news that the Greek government is trying to quash the proposed referendum vote, but the long-term prognosis for Greece, and by extension Europe, is pretty bleak.