The geopolitical and economic consequences will be the real Greek tragedy, warns the boss of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.
The comments from the founder and chief executive of deVere Group come as the meeting between Greece and its creditors, namely the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was suspended late on Wednesday evening. It is set to resume on today (Thursday) .
Mr Green observes: “History will teach us that Greece, and therefore the rest of the Eurozone, would have been better off had it not joined the Euro.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But there’s no point looking back. A solution must be found. It is time to get creative because the geopolitical and economic consequences of not finding a solution will be the real Greek tragedy.”
He explains: “A Grexit would mean that joining the Euro doesn’t necessarily have to be permanent and for governments and European authorities to suggest otherwise would not be credible. This would set an alarming and wholly destabilising precedent across the Eurozone in the longer-term.
“China and/or Russia could also move to ally with Greece, offering them their considerable influence and resources. This would inevitably cause concern amongst many western governments and it would highlight further the flaws within the concept of a European Union.
“All of this would create major uncertainty and turmoil.”
Mr Green continues: “A Grexit could bring to an effective halt the recovery of the economies of the Eurozone and more untried and untested tools to boost economic growth might be employed. Again, this could create turbulence in the financial markets and will impact ordinary people across the EU and globally.
“In addition, whilst the wider financial markets are likely to react with a muted response in the immediate aftermath of a Grexit, the longer-term risks are harder to forecast. The economic punch could turn out to be harder than we think. For example, investors might flee credit markets as a precaution and, due to the herd mentality often found in investing circles, this could cause significant damage.”
The deVere CEO concludes: “Fear of Grexit is not just about concern for Greece. It is about Eurozone financial stability, and about demonstrating European unity to the world.”
