Greece, the cradle of Western civilization, has threatened to bring a string of dependent economies into the grave.

Fearing the impact of Greece defaulting on USD 165 B of debt, EU countries agreed to channel a new round of international aid into the country, demanding that it adopt a set of austerity measures in return.

Surprised, annoyed, or at times sympathetic, EU taxpayers were told to grab their buckets and start bailing out.

Greece has come to such dire straits after prolonged periods of fiscal irresponsibility combined with systematically forged budget deficit data supplied to the European Central Bank (ECB).

The lights were on but there was nobody home at the ECB? How about other supervisory structures, credit rating agencies, etc, etc? Given Greece's record of habitual misreporting of its budget deficit, were the institutions in charge blind, or were they paid or talked into turning a blind eye?

If the EU and the rest of the world are willing to integrate into dense, cohesive networks for cooperation, they need to first and foremost guarantee their stability through stringent, yet transparent, control mechanisms.  

If not, the countries are bound to find themselves trapped to death into cobwebs of dependency.

After committing flagrant violations of inflation and deficit limits set by the ECB and insolently under-reporting them, Greece needs to be taught a lesson, while EU financial monitoring authorities need to be shocked out of their complacency.

Non-compliant behavior is to be punished, not rewarded by rescue packages. Blackmail tactics is not to be tolerated.

If not, Greece's downward spiral will translate into Europe's and the-rest-of-the-world's downward spirals. Welcome to rock-bottom!

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