Greek 2nd bailout finally agreed

Agreement has been finally reached in Brussels over the terms of the Greek bailout and the level of austerity to be faced by Greece in order to receive it.

Greek bond holders will face an expected substantial loss or "haircut" of 53% and also receive reduced interest for some years, giving the Greek economy breathing space to tackle the underlying debt and lack of growth.

Both of these need permanent solutions or the rescue money is just going down a black hole, though there are a lot of polititicans and economists out there that think this is exactly what is happening and it will only be a matter of time before Greece goes cap in hand to EU leaders for more assistance.

What this EU 130 billion package does do though, is to buy time for Greece to get it's house in order and reduce the possibility of contagion. Would a savvy investor buy into this potential recovery? Probably not.

There will be an election in Greece in the very near future and the violent protests and large scale strikes in Greece have made it very clear that there is no backing for the austerity package from the Greek people.

The EU will not bail out Greece forever and an unseen benefit of this long running scenario, is a possible change in perception that a Eurozone without Greece may not be the end of the world and once the initial disruption has died down, would be a good thing should it happen.

There was no "Exit" strategy for members  built into the Eurozone mechanism and clearly it needs one, though if it does exist now, it can hardly be announced with trumpets and drums.