Once again, talks with Greece are coming down to the last hour:
Last-ditch talks aimed at breaking the impasse between Athens and its international creditors have collapsed in acrimony with European Union officials dismissing Greece’s latest reform package as incomplete in a step that pushes the country closer to leaving the eurozone.
What had been billed as a last attempt to close the gap between Alexis Tsipras’s anti-austerity government and the bodies keeping debt-stricken Greece afloat was halted late on Sunday after less than an hour of negotiations in Brussels.
You can click the link for more details, but the story is pretty much the same as always. Greece wants to accept modest reforms (a bit higher VAT here and there, some reforms to reduce tax evasion) while the Europeans and the IMF want bigger concessions, including cuts to pensions.
So either Grexit really is close, and we’re all going to find just how bad it really is, or else—as usual—everyone is waiting until literally the last second to make the concessions necessary on both sides. Both the chief economist of the IMF and the head of the ECB are urging compromise as I write.
Want to follow this in real time, just like a soccer match? The Guardian has you covered! Just click here. At this particular moment there appears to be a fair amount of table thumping between Greek members of the European Parliament and Mario Draghi. Mostly theater, as near as I can tell.
