Greek debt will not be renegotiated just because Syriza won. So it will default, in the end, because Greece cannot pay.
[This article originally appeared on BullionVault and is republished here with permission.]
So Greece is apparently "set on collision course" with its euro partners after Sunday's "comprehensive victory" by Syriza ... the "radical, far-left party", according to Monday's press coverage.
Just for the record, Greece has been "colliding" with Germany, France and the rest since 2010. Syriza won only 149 out of 300 seats in parliament, and it only gained 36% of total votes. It must lead a coalition to take power.
As for "far left", Syriza looks more "socialist" than "Maoist" to me. You can spot that because the word "naive" would also fit very well.
Still, calling Syriza "radical" today ... just for wanting to free a little of Greece's future from the debt bubble of a decade ago ... shows how much power creditors hold.
Those creditors will lose in the end. You can be sure of that.
But for Greece today ... as for most everywhere else ... a Biblical debt jubilee looks a long way off. I fear there's a lot more pain, arguing and strife to get through yet.
Syriza is also guilty of hype this morning, of course. "Your mandate," party leader Alexis Tsipras told supporters, "is undoubtedly cancelling the bailouts of austerity and destruction."
Really, a mandate? With barely one Greek vote in every three?
Outside Greece, the eurozone's political leaders don't think Tsipras won a mandate for change either. Its political leaders told him as much last night when they called to congratulate.
Greece's other big lender, the IMF in Washington, also agrees ... unwittingly (and correctly) forecasting a mass cancellation of debt sometime in the future by saying it "rules out special treatment for Greece."
