By Michael Snyder<\/p>\n
(RINF<\/a>) – There never was going to be any deal. All along, Germany has been seeking to establish conditions that would never be met so that they could force Greece out of the eurozone. But the Germans had to do this subtly so that they would end up looking \u201creasonable\u201d and would not turn the rest of the eurozone against them. So why does Germany want to get rid of Greece? Well, to be honest, it is because the Germans are sick and tired of paying for Greek mistakes. In Germany, there is an obsession with having a balanced budget. They even have a term for it \u2014 \u201cthe black zero<\/a>\u201c. So it absolutely infuriates the Germans that the Greeks can never seem to get their act together and that German citizens have to keep paying for it. At this point, the amount of money that Germany has already poured into Greece breaks down to more than 700 euros per citizen<\/strong>, and now Greece is going to need a new bailout<\/strong> of somewhere between 82 billion and 86 billion euros<\/strong> over the next three years. Needless to say, the Germans are fed up with pouring money down a financial black hole, and they know that if they keep bailing Greece out that it is only a matter of time before they will have to bail out Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, etc.<\/p>\n So, no, it hasn\u2019t been the Greeks holding up a deal all this time.<\/p>\n It has been the Germans.<\/p>\n And now that we have reached the endgame, the Germans are pushing for what they have always wanted\u00a0from the very beginning<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The German government has begun preparations for Greece to be ejected from the eurozone<\/strong>, as the European Union faces 24 hours to rescue the single currency project from the brink of collapse.<\/p>\n Finance ministers failed to break the deadlock with Greece over a new bail-out package, after nine hours of acrimonious talks as creditors accused Athens of destroying their trust\u2026<\/p>\n Should no deal be forthcoming, the German government has made preparations to negotiate a temporary five-year euro exit<\/strong>, providing Greece with humanitarian aid while it makes the transition\u2026.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Germans are sick and tired of having the Greeks be so financially dependent on them. So the Germans would really like to cut them off and have them go fend for themselves.<\/p>\n So that is why the EU laid out such draconian conditions for the Greeks over the weekend. The following is how Zero Hedge<\/a> summarized where things currently stand\u2026<\/p>\n For those who missed today\u2019s festivities in Brussels, here is the 30,000 foot summary: Europe has given Greece a \u201cchoice\u201d: hand over sovereignty to Europe or undergo a 5 year Grexit \u201ctime out\u201d, which is a polite euphemism for get the hell out. <\/strong><\/p>\n As noted earlier, here are the 12 conditions <\/a>laid out as a result of the latest Eurogroup meeting, which are far more draconian than anything presented to Greece yet and which effectively require that Greece cede sovereignty to Europe, this time even without the implementation of a technocratic government.<\/p>\n Greece has been given until Wednesday to pass all of the legislation necessary to implement all of those conditions.<\/p>\n And if Greece does somehow get all that done, it still won\u2019t get them a deal. All it will do is allow them to come back and restart negotiations.<\/p>\n Needless to say, the Greeks are steaming mad at this point. This new \u201cdeal\u201d is being called \u201cvery bad<\/a>\u201d and \u201cinsulting<\/a>\u201d by Greek politicians.<\/p>\n But what they may not understand is that Germany does not actually want any deal to happen. Instead, they are working very, very hard to get the Greeks booted out of the euro. The following comes from\u00a0the Washington Post<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The simple story is that Germany and the other hardline countries don\u2019t trust Greece\u2019s anti-austerity Syriza party to actually implement, well, austerity. And so rather than coughing up another 60 or 70 or 80 billion euros, they seem to want to\u00a0push\u00a0to kick Greece out of the common currency instead<\/strong>. That, at least, was the plan\u00a0that leaked\u00a0on Saturday. And now it\u2019s part of the actual plan on Sunday<\/strong>. Indeed,\u00a0it\u2019s tentatively been included<\/a> in the European finance ministers\u2019 latest joint statement. This isn\u2019t just what Germany is considering. It\u2019s what Germany is trying to get the rest of Europe to go along with<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If anyone still doubts what the Germans are trying to do, here it is in black and white\u2026<\/p>\n If no agreement Greece should be offered swift negotiations on a time out from the euro via @IdafeMartin<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/HYnsn3BZ8q<\/a><\/p>\n \u2013 Bruno Waterfield (@BrunoBrussels) July 12, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And this is not an idea that is new. In fact, some hardliners in Germany have been pushing for a \u201ctemporary Greek exit\u201d\u00a0since at least 2012<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n This weekend\u2019s events in Europe have clarified who is really running the show across the \u2018union\u2019.<\/strong> Hans-Werner Sinn, Chairman of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, vehemnt euroskeptic, and head of the so-called \u2018five wise men\u2019 advising the German government and specifically Angela Merkel, confirmed his call from 2012 for a \u201ctemporary grexit from the euro.\u201d The right wing economist previously explained<\/a> \u201cGreece and Portugal have to become 30-40% less expensive to be competitive again. This is being attempted through excessive austerity measures within the euro zone, but it won\u2019t work. It will drive these countries to the brink of civil war before it succeeds.<\/strong> Temporary exits would very quickly stabilize these countries, create new jobs and free the population from the yoke of the euro.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Germans absolutely hate having to open up their wallets for someone else\u2019s mess. And they know that if they endlessly bail out Greece that it won\u2019t end there. Eventually, much of the rest of the continent will come to them for bailouts too. I think that\u00a0Nigel Farage nailed it<\/a> when he summed up what Germany is thinking this way\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cThe German thinking is: \u2018Let\u2019s get rid of this mess<\/strong>,’\u201d Farage said. Expressing what he thought Germany was thinking about other troubled peripheral euro zone economies, he added: \u201c\u2018let\u2019s send a message to Italy, France, Spain and Portugal that actually, if you\u2019re members of this club, you got to abide by our rules<\/strong>.’\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But I believe that Germany is greatly, greatly underestimating the damage that a \u201cGrexit\u201d is going to do to Greece and to the rest of the members of the EU.<\/p>\n In Greece, the banking system is already on the verge of total collapse. We are being told that capital controls will remain in place \u201cfor at least six months\u201d, and now Greek politicians are even talking about\u00a0\u201ca possible forced \u2018bail-in\u2019 of depositors\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Capital controls will stay in place at Greek banks for at least six months<\/strong>, senior officials in Athens warned yesterday, as the government fights to keep lenders afloat.<\/p>\n Leaders of the four main banks and finance ministry officials will meet tomorrow to discuss how to save the banking system from collapse after a run on deposits.<\/p>\n Options under consideration include a consolidation of four main banks down to two, creation of a \u201cbad bank\u201d to house toxic loans, and a possible forced \u201cbail-in\u201d of depositors<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
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