A comparison between Greece today and Brazil in the past is of limited value, due to the number of fundamental differences between the nations' situations.

Because of massive, sustained budget deficits by several eurozone countries, some could default on their sovereign debt obligations, or the euro itself might disintegrate, profoundly affecting the EU’s political and economic future. Very little media attention, however, is focused on a very different, but even more important, EU problem, namely its “democratic deficit.”

Greece's present economic travails are now raising serious questions about the longer-run viability of the eurozone in its present form.

Greece must seek new solutions to stave off economic disaster and preserve its membership in the eurozone.

Modest structural economic reforms in Greece are set to continue, though they will encounter significant resistance.