Printing the new drachma: the messy future of a post-euro Greece

Athens

INTRODUCING a new currency is no small feat. Recent cases - East Germany's adoption of the deutsche mark, the Czech-Slovak divorce of 1993, and the creation of the euro itself - benefited from years of careful planning and broad popular support. If Greece were to abandon the euro, it would have neither.

"Historical precedent suggests this would be hugely challenging," said Richard Portes, a professor of economics at London Business School. "The situation in Greece is perhaps even worse because it's not clear that they have the administrative capacity to move quickly to a new currency."

Greece's government says that it intends to keep the euro even if voters reject the terms of a proposed international bailout in a closely-watched referendum. While a poll commissioned by Bloomberg found the vot…