Europe’s debt crisis: Another greek tragedy

By the beard of Zeus!

Events in Athens today were yet again worthy of the term Greek tragedy.

At an emergency meeting called by the country's president Karolos Papoulias, Greek leaders failed to come up with a plan to enact new austerity measures — additional tax hikes and spending cuts — the country's foreign creditors want.

Not surprisingly, the Greek public isn't happy about new measures to slim down their country's debt.

Thousands have demonstrated for two nights outside the Greek Parliament.

But Prime Minister George Papandreo put on a brave face following today's breakdown:

“It’s our duty to get Greece out of this crisis,” Papandreou said on state-run TV. “And we will do all it takes, with or without cross-party agreement.”

But Papandreo wasn't all combative Ares.

He also tossed in a bit of Hermes with a diplomatic message to his political opponents:

“There are many points on which we can agree. But there is a need for political will from all sides. Over the next few days we will continue efforts to reach a consensus,” he added. 

The big question now is whether Greece will end up in default, plunging Europe into yet another crisis.

"We will see yet more procrastination and confusion over the coming days,” Ciaran O’Hagan, head of European rate strategy at Societe Generale SA in Paris told Bloomberg.

“We believe Greece and Ireland and other sovereigns all have the wherewithal to avoid a worsening of their public finances. But their will to take tough decisions is weakening.”