Is it fair to simply blame the Greeks for their predicament? This was a typical outcome of the pre-GFC bubble. Foreign banks/investors throwing money at what they thought were opportunities to make more money. Lehman made the same mistake. The responsibility entirely lies with the lender. Its is simply a larger version of the US mortgage crisis. Financiers lending money to people (often without jobs) with no real hope of ever being able to service the loan. Short-termism on the lender's behalf but with long term consequences for the integrity of the financial system.
Surely, any half responsible lender could have seen that Greece was a credit risk just as the guy with no job is a credit risk. Spend some time in Greece and you'll see that things happen on Greek time and not a minute sooner. Thats what we love about Greece - the laidback lifestyle - but you wouldn't lend them huge amounts of money expecting to ever see it again.
