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Euro Officials Begin to Weigh Greek Exit From Common Currency

Greece’s possible exit from the euro area moved to the center of Europe’s debt-crisis debate, with officials beginning to weigh the fallout of a withdrawal even as authorities in Athens struggled to form a government.

It "worked" for Greece, why not Ireland?...
EU nations agreed an euro85 billion ($113 billion) bailout deal for Ireland on Sunday to help the debt-struck country with its banking crisis, and sketched out new rules for future emergencies in an effort to restore faith in the euro currency.

APRIL 2013 - The dramatic recent events in Cyprus have highlighted the fundamental weakness in the European banking system and the extreme fragility of fractional reserve banking. Cypriot banks invested heavily in Greek sovereign debt, and last summer's Greek debt restructuring resulted in losses equivalent to more than 25 percent of Cyprus' GDP. These banks then took their bad investments to the government, demanding a bailout from an already beleaguered Cypriot treasury. The government of Cyprus then turned to the European Union (EU) for a bailout.

Eurozone scenarios from best to worst

Leaders from the 17 countries in the eurozone are meeting in Brussels this week in an 11th-hour attempt to avert an economic crisis that many people believe will lead to the collapse of the Euro. The deadline for an agreement is Dec. 9. Based on the opinions of some highly respected economic minds, here is a range of potential outcomes, from best to worst.
Hover over blue Euro symbol for details. Move from left to right for possible scenarios as the eurozone crisis unfolds.

Countries in debt may fall to dictators, EC chief warns -- 'Apocalyptic' vision as some states run out of money --- Democracy could ‘collapse’ in Greece, Spain and Portugal unless urgent action is taken to tackle the debt crisis, the head of the European Commission has warned.

determination to ‘move beyond anger to creativity’ is driving a strong barter economy in some places

Moody's Investors Service considers Greece to have defaulted per its default definitions. The announcement comes despite Athens reaching a deal with private creditors for a bond exchange that will shave €107 billion from its €350 billion debt. The agency pointed out that even though 85.8% of the holders of Greek-law bonds had signed to the deal, the exercise of collective action clauses that Athens is applying to its bonds will force the remaining bondholders to participate.

European Debt Crisis explained in pithy 4 min cartoon. No surprise, it was the banks and the government.

Already bigger than many sovereign currencies, Bitcoin has broken the $1 billion in value mark this week. In the wake of continuing economic crises and liquidity shortages, this new virtual currency is poised to challenge the euro and US dollar.
By not being tied to any particular financial institution and independent from world governments, Bitcoin will become a safe haven for anyone trying to save their money from the crippled international banking system, claimed Max Keiser, the host of RT's Keiser Report.