Greece and the Eurozone: An Economic Disaster

Greece, in it's political and economic standoff with Brussels and Berlin, has blinked. Just mere weeks away from completely running out of cash, the newly elected Greek government is scrambling to arrange a deal with the EU that will keep them funded, rolling back on many of the demands that they had once claimed to the Greek people they would make to the rest of Europe in regards to their crushing debt. Instead of renegotiating and creating a new loan program in which up to half of Greece's debt would be forgiven, the Syriza government is now looking for a six month extension to their current Eurozone loan program.

But the Germans are on the offensive now. In a rare break from the EU government and Brussels, the German government rejected the Greek proposal to extend their current loan program, mere minutes after the European commission called the request "positive."

Talks are continuing over the phone between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as of friday, with a Greek official calling the talks "constructive."

If the talks were to fail however, which though unlikely is not off the table, and were the Greek government be forced to print a national currency, this could be called a disaster for both the EU and Greece, from an economic and political standpoint. With Greek unemployment at a staggering 25%, and their debt equaling to 155% of their GDP, being forced to come off the Euro could very well cause the nation to fall into complete turmoil. The European Union, on the other hand, would suffer political consequences for allowing a nation to leave the Euro behind, as both right wing and left wing parties both in nations such as France, Spain, and the Netherlands writhe under the thumb of the EU and are itching to find an excuse to leave the EU.
While not a disaster in terms of lives, the ramifications of the failure of the talks occurring between Brussels, Athens, and Berlin can indeed spell disaster for the people of Europe.

References
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31545115
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/greece/unemployment-rate