I have no sympathy for bankers and their beyond reason loans.
“The smart move for Greeks would be to not pay and set up a reasonable budget to live by, without debt. Germany took the risk, and part of risk is loss.”
I agree, but you make it sound painless.
Greece may eventually do that, but it’s going to be traumatic. They’re complaining of “austerity” now for making some minor cuts. Wait till they actually default and don’t have any access to credit to fund their deficits. Then they’ll have two choices, live within their means, which means no deficits and thus substantial cuts to public spending, or go on a drachma printing spree and face out of control inflation.
There are no easy ways out.