Greece will have to bite the bullet

The euro crisis has so sharply divided the opinions of politicians and economists that it is almost impossible to tell who's right.

Of course, everybody agrees that the debt problem, which is spreading from the smaller economies of Greece, Ireland and Portugal to the much larger economies of Spain and Italy, and possibly France, might plunge the world into a deep recession if not resolved. While some liberal politicians and economists are clamoring for global efforts to stimulate growth, others, labeled as conservatives, are holding fast to the conviction that throwing good money after bad will only create bigger problems in future.

Watching the unfolding drama in Europe, many Asian countries, which have a tradition of frugality that loathes any form of spending beyond one's means, are naturally taking the side of the conservatives. I grew up in Hong Kong where balance budgeting is widely held as sacrosanct. For that reason, I found it strange and unacceptable that some prominent economists in the West have put the entire blame of the Greek sovereign debt crisis on the intrinsic flaw of the euro system and the greed of European banks. Greece, they claimed, was the victim.