15 JUN 10,
2015 2:00 AM EDT
By Mark
Buchanan
Bloomberg
The
repeated willingness of Greece
and its creditors to bring the entire euro area to the brink of disaster
presents a difficult and fascinating question for economic theorists: What game
are they really playing?
On the
surface, it seems like a classic game of chicken, in which each side tries to
look determined enough to make the other crumble. The creditors, including the
European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank,
insist that they can't provide any more debt relief or loosen their austerity
demands any further. Greece
pushes for more, suggesting that it is willing to default on its debts,
possibly triggering an unraveling of the monetary union, if it doesn't get its
way.