Greece: it did not have to be this way

Ashoka Mody on Bloomberg

Then came the cardinal error: At the IMF’s Board, over the fierce opposition of several executive directors, the Europeans and Americans pushed through a bailout program that, contrary to the fund’s rules, did not impose losses on Greece’s private creditors. The decision was based on a spurious claim that “restructuring” private debt would trigger a global financial meltdown.

Thus, European governments and the IMF lent Greece a vast sum to repay its existing creditors. Greece’s debt burden remained unchanged and onerous, and the most vulnerable Greeks were forced to accept crippling austerity to repay the country’s new official creditors. The economy quickly and predictably went into a tailspin.

Even when the IMF recognized the error of its ways, it didn’t change course. An internal “strictly confidential” report,  later made public, acknowledged that the program was riddled with “notable failures,” including the lack of private debt restructuring and excessive austerity.