The Big Issue We Aren’t Paying Enough Attention To

by Stuart Shapiro

While I am as entertained by Herman Cain’s 13th and 14th minute of fame as anyone, the presidential race may not be the thing that most affects our well-being in in 2013.  The drama of Greece’s debt crisis continues to play out and the results are highly uncertain.  The latest step is the potential collapse of the Greek government and a possible exit of Greece from the Eurozone.

There were indications on Thursday that European Union leaders were braced for a potential Greek exit from the euro, adding to the bloc’s pressure on the authorities in Athens.

If Greece did leave, “We are considering the issue of how we can ensure that no harm comes to our people in Germany, in Luxembourg, elsewhere in the euro zone,” Jean-Claude Juncker , the prime minister of Luxembourg who also heads the finance ministers group of 17 countries using the euro, told Germany’s ZDF television Thursday.

If Greece does leave the Eurozone and then defaults on its debts, a worldwide crisis could ensue that would make the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers seem mild by comparison.  In that scenario, the lucky candidates in this election might be the ones who lose.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.