Grexit on Ice

Euro crisis

For months, Greece has seemed to be on the brink of crashing out of Europe's shared currency union. But countless "final deadlines" have come and gone since January. Each time, negotiators have managed to cobble together enough of an agreement to delay the final judgment without ever actually reconciling their differences.

On June 30, when Greece became the first developed nation ever to miss a debt payment to the International Monetary Fund, its prospects for remaining in the Eurozone seemed bleak. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had walked away from talks with the so-called "troika" of creditors, saying the reforms they wanted in exchange for unlocking additional bailout funds were unacceptable. He urged the Greek people to vote the agreement down, and the electorate gleefully complied.

Tsipras would ultimately send the troika a new proposal that included nearly all the changes the international community had been asking for. But his offer may have been too little, too late. Greece's creditors, led by Germany, responded that they no longer trusted Tsipras to make good on his word and asked for additional concessions, including the selling of €50 billion in valuable government assets.

The Greek Parliament reluctantly approved the required measures July 15, paving the way for a new bailout deal worth more than €80 billion. Grexit averted—for now.