Kicking the can down the road

There has been a lot written about Greece’s elections. The outcome, a narrow victory for the New Democracy party, was the most widely expected result. Paradoxically, this result will lead to even more uncertainty. It is simply, to adopt a common American phrase of the moment, ‘kicking the can down the road.’

To most commentators, the Greek electorate had a simple choice. Do you want to stay in the Euro, or not? In reality, Syriza, the left wing radicals, had always maintained that they wanted to stay within the single currency. They simply wanted to renegotiate the terms of the bailout. It was rather like a madman holding a gun to his head and threatening to blow his brains out in your house, if you don’t give him £1000. His gamble is that paying him off is a lot less inconvenient than clearing up the ghastly mess in your living room.