[credit: Riber Hansson, Svenska Dagbladet]
Wackydoodle axes: Does a monkey wrench come with that?
Wackydoodle axes: Does a monkey wrench come with that?
Backed up by his cabinet, Prime Minister Papandreou set the Greek referendum for December 4th or 5th. A disturbed German Chancellor Merkel said the referendum was about whether Greece should stay in the currency union. But at the end of the day the Greek Prime Minister bowed to outside pressure to call the referendum off. Betting was that the Greek people would opt out, if given the chance to vote. Some observers believe Papandreou is engaged in a high risk game of brinksmanship to get parliamentary opponents to endorse the EU bailout. If Greece becomes insolvent, Italy will be extremely hard hit. It has extended the most credit to Greece and its banks are already on life support. The ECB has been pumping funds into Italy on the condition that it pass austerity measures, but Prime Minister Berlusconi failed to pass measures demanded by the EU prior to the G-20 summit in Cannes.