What if Greece left the eurozone?

At the height of the debt crisis a few years ago, many experts worried that Greece’s problems would spill over to the rest of the world. If Greece defaulted on its debt and exited the eurozone, they argued, it might create global financial shocks bigger than the collapse of Lehman Brothers did.





Now, however, some people believe that if Greece were to leave the currency union, in what is known as a “Grexit,” it would not be such a catastrophe. Europe has put up safeguards to limit the so-called financial contagion, in an effort to keep the problems from spreading to other countries. Greece, just a tiny part of the eurozone economy, could regain financial autonomy by leaving, these people contend — and the eurozone would actually be better off without a country that seems to constantly need its neighbors’ support.





Greece does hold some leverage, however. European leaders are keen to avoid a new Greek crisis before a British referendum on membership to the European Union in June, and will most likely need Greece’s help in tackling the Continent’s continuing migration crisis, which has been concentrated in the Aegean Sea.





Greece’s G.D.P. and Unemployment Rates in Europe

First quarter 2015 average; *Britain is the three-month average through February.

Source: Eurostat