Today’s summit puts euro in the spotlight

The Greeks are learning that defaulting on private creditors is one thing, but defaulting on the governments of rich European countries is quite something else.

Everyone is talking about Greece being on the verge of exiting the euro, after Monday’s summit meeting, but the crisis is not about Greece’s currency arrangements.

The Greeks are not demanding a return to the drachma and few of them are arguing for the competitive benefits of a currency devaluation. There are no formal rules that Greece is breaking that must lead to an exit from the euro because, legally, the euro is a fixed and irrevocable currency union.