Paul Krugman: Of course Greece had a plan for a new currency

By Myles Udland

Greece had a plan to introduce a new currency if it got forced from the euro, and Nobel Laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman can't believe people are shocked (shocked!) to find this out.

"I mean, really: it would have been shocking if there weren't contingency plans," Krugman writes. "Preparing for something you know might happen doesn't show that you want it to happen."

Krugman continues:

Someday, maybe, we'll know what kind of contingency plans the United States has had over the years. Plans to invade Canada? Probably. Plans to declare martial law in the event of a white supremacist uprising? Maybe.

Krugman's point, in short, is that any sort of outrage over the existence of what seems like crazy Greek plan "hack" its own banking system and introduce a parallel currency in the event Greece was pushed from the euro is just outrage for the sake of it.

If you're Greece, a nation that is waiting for the result of a referendum vote on a bailout that has expired, and you've already missed a payment to a major creditor that could potentially freeze the government out of any future financial aid, you're going to have a plan for keeping the economy moving if the worst case scenario comes to pass.

Now,of course, it's all very exciting to hear recording to former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis explain to fellow European leaders how Greece's Syriza government planned to pull this off.

But it's not like, that amazing that a plan exists. In fact, what would actually be crazy is if there were no plan in place. Alas, it has not come to this.