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addition, six new drachma banknotes were designed and printed. When their banks reopen, the newdrachmawill become the country’s official currency.” Secretary Lew sat back in his chair, which prompted Chief of Staff McDill to interject.
    “The President will be returning from a fund-raiser in San Francisco this evening,” said McDill. “He will be in contact with Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande in the next several hours to assess their reactions.”
    “The International Monetary Fund is working with national authorities in Europe on contingency plans,” said Secretary Lew. “The Greek banks are big players in some of its neighbors’ financial systems. In Bulgaria, for example, subsidiaries of the National Bank of Greece own a quarter of the country’s banking assets. The situation is similar in Romania, Albania and Serbia.”
    Katie followed the collapse of the Eurozone for several years. Before Abbie’s senatorial reelection campaign ramped up, the two would enjoy movie nights at Katie’s apartment. Abbie likened the Eurozone collapse to watching a bad B-movie that you just can’t turn off. Everyone knew Greece would exit the Eurozone— Grexit as the process was termed. What was surprising about today’s news was the complicity of Spain and Italy. While both nations had their financial difficulties, their withdrawal from the Eurozone would catch everyone by surprise. Secretary Lew continued.
    “Several scenarios have been advanced regarding the departure of Greece from the Eurozone,” said Secretary Lew. “It was our opinion that the biggest threat to the continuance of the euro is not that Greece might leave, but that it might exit and then thrive with a clean financial slate. The Italians would question whether it made sense for them to continue its financial pain when it could simply bring back the lira. I don’t want to get into the weeds here, but Italy is running a government surplus that is constantly strained by the low growth and deflation caused by the euro. The Grexit is simply an excuse for Italy to advance their already laid plans.”
    Katie’s mind raced as she thought about the national-security issues surrounding this train wreck. This would cause substantial unrest throughout Europe and could potentially spill over into the United States. Terrorists never sleep and typically took advantage of distractions to conduct their attacks. NSA Giles was studying her. Has the NSA developed a mind-reading app—which is implanted in Susan Giles brain? Wouldn’t surprise me.
    “What happens next?” asked the President’s Chief of Staff.
    “The government did not put up a default notice, but it did advise several key officials in the Greek trade unions and a run on the banks began,” said Secretary Lew. “As word spread and the lines at the banks grew, the decision was made over the weekend to close the banks indefinitely. The IMF has requested national banking supervisors to ensure all subsidiaries of Greek banks throughout the Eurozone have enough assets to allow exchanges of emergency financing at their own central banks in case financing from the Greek parent institutions is suddenly cut off.”
    “We expect President Pavlopoulos to address the Greek people and ask for calm,” said NSA Giles. “As President, he is a figurehead, but he is respected. Prime Minister Tsipras is the driving force behind the default—together with his allies, Prime Minister Rajoy in Spain and Italian Prime Minister Renzi.”
    “We expect Portugal to join their Southern Europe neighbors by the end of today,” added Secretary Lew.
    “Europe is America’s largest trading partner,” said McDill. “The most common currency for transactions between the United States and European businesses is the dollar. But the euro is a close second, which will leave American businesses that deal with Europe exposed to devastating losses.”
    “The value of the euro had already dropped below the one-to-one