In today’s referendum, the Greek people voted overwhelmingly to reject the bailout offer that was presented to them by the intransigent “troika” of the IMF, EC, and ECB. With more than half the votes counted nationwide, the NO votes led the YES votes by about 60% to 40%. This result also represents a vote of confidence for the Syriza coalition government and for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who, amidst scathing attacks by troika leaders, had urged Greeks to reject the offer.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble is now calling for Greece to be expelled from the eurozone. That is not likely to happen any time soon, but if it did, Greece would be the better for it. So long as the Greek government continues to balance its budget it might well be able to issue a domestic currency without inflation. It might also encourage private measures to provide domestic liquidity. Private currencies spent into circulation by trusted issuers on the basis of goods and services that are in regular demand, and mutual credit clearing associations of businesses have historically been shown to be effective in providing exchange media and alleviating economic hardship, especially when official currencies are in short supply.
Beyond Money 