Greece lurches toward new election, possible Eurozone exit as coalition talks fail

Greece inched closer to new elections—and a possible exit from the Eurozone—Sunday after negotiations on a coalition government again failed.

From the BBC:

The Greek president has called the four main parties, including the centre-right New Democracy and the Socialist Pasok, to try to form an emergency government to avoid new elections.

But Syriza [a far left party]said it would not attend because it could not back any coalition which supported austerity.

A majority voted against last week.

“No unity government can emerge,” Fotis Kouvelis, head of the Democratic Left party, told Greek television.

“A government without Syriza would not have the necessary popular and parliamentary backing,” said Mr Kouvelis.

Eurozone finance ministers are scheduled to meet in Brussels Monday as voters across the continent continue to voice their anger over steep austerity measures. Meanwhile, worries over the fallout from a possible Greek collapse are reverberating on both sides of the Atlantic.

From the Atlantic:

The 2012 U.S. presidential election could be in many ways about the global economy. If Europe stabilizes, the global economy will be more likely to steady itself, which could lead U.S. job creation to tick upward, the stock market to advance, and the odds to favor Obama’s reelection. But if Greece lurches off the cliff edge, taking Europe with it, the markets may tank, job creation could stall, and suddenly we’re looking at a Mitt Romney presidency.