Zeke

I just don't understand why Greece sticking with the Euro absolutely needs to be tied to their bailout and/or balancing their books.

If they can't pay their bills in a given currency, why should that mean that they must cease to use that currency?

To give an analogy... if I default or declare bankruptcy on my personal debts, which are in Canadian Dollars, that won't stop me from continuing to use Canadian Dollars.

It only means I won't have any more Canadian dollars to spend and nobody will lend me any more Canadian Dollars.

The way I see it, if Greece defaults, they'll have the choice of making the deep and necessary cuts immediately or have government cheques issued by Greece bounce.

And from THERE, the needed spending reductions will happen overnight for the simple reason that they won't have any more money to spend. Any additional cheques they write without having the cash will simply bounce.

Of course that would be horribly messy and more painful in the short term.

And people in Greece will be forced to survive without government benefits.

So I fail to see why Greece's finances need to be linked to whether they continue to use the Euro (or any other currency for that matter).

Could someone explain/elaborate on why these two seemingly separate things (to me) are being linked in this case?