Bluff of the Day: Germany Warns “Greece is No Longer of Systemic Importance For the Euro”

In the obvious bluff of the day, Euro zone No Longer Obliged to Rescue Greece, Merkel Ally Says.
Actually, the eurozone was never obliged to rescue Greece, and in fact did not rescue Greece. Rather the EU and Troika rescued European banks holding Greek bonds.
Here’s the actual bluff.
In an interview with Rheinische Post newspaper published on Wednesday, Michael Fuchs also said Greek politicians could not now “blackmail” their partners in the currency bloc.
“If Alexis Tsipras of the Greek left party Syriza thinks he can cut back the reform efforts and austerity measures, then the troika will have to cut back the credits for Greece,” he said.
“The times where we had to rescue Greece are over. There is no potential for political blackmail anymore. Greece is no longer of systemic importance for the euro.”
Blackmail Potential
Curiously, there was little potential for blackmail years past when Greece ran a primary account deficit (Greece needed money from Europe to stay afloat), but now Greece has a tiny current account surplus (not counting interest payments).
Countries with current account surpluses are not dependent on foreigners to finance debt. This makes it all the more likely Greece can tell the Troika “go to hell”.

This post was published at Global Economic Analysis on December 31, 2014.