Greece needs a debt service holiday

ALEXIS Tsipras has donned the crown of thorns. His task as Greek prime minister will not be easy. Any radical party coming to power almost always disappoints. Whatever a leader may say in opposition, once in office, your adversaries get you. They tell you why you can't take measures that will upset the markets or German Chancellor Angela Merkel or the IMF.

Mr Tsipras has to stay firm to his purpose. If his Syriza party ends up forming a conservative government, anarchy will result. He has to wield the nuclear option of Greek exit from the euro so he can meet the demands of his voters waiting for a chance to regain an element of self-respect.

The voices of orthodoxy are powerful. They are the voices of reason, of moderation. But they are also the voices of self-interest. The arithmetic of the Greek debt is inexorable. It is unpayable in any reasonable time frame without subjecting the Greek population to a generation of misery.