(REUTERS/Thomas Peter) Merkel: No pay, no play.
It's no secret that the biggest holder of Greek debt — which Greece is refusing to pay — is Germany.
It's no secret that the biggest holder of Greek debt — which Greece is refusing to pay — is Germany.
But when you see how much exposure Germany has to Greek debt, you quickly realize just how motivated German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to prevent the Greeks from defaulting and to keep them in the eurozone.
She really, really needs to get Germany's money back.
According to this table from Deutsche Bank, the Greeks owe Germany €87 billion (£62 billion, $96 billion).
That's 20 billion more euros than the next biggest creditor, France.
Italy and Spain are heavily exposed too, but once you go further down the list the amounts quickly become smaller and more reasonable.
It's all relative, of course: 400 million euros is doubtless a big deal in Cyprus.
But still, it's no wonder that Merkel, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Union simply shrugged when the Greeks voted "no" to the bailout deal; Merkel has 87 billion reasons to ignore their wishes.