The conspiracy theorist in me suspects that's the reason Greece is being forced to go through painful austerity measures even though everyone knows they won't work. The system survived a Greek defaul^H^Hvoluntary restructuring, but it wouldn't survive every country doing that, so the Greeks have to be seen to suffer.

That's not really a conspiracy theory - it's pretty much all in the open. The ECB and European Commission (even the IMF!) don't pretend that austerity works, they just pretend that there's no alternative and periodically tell us that the seeds of recovery have sprouted.

Why they do it is another matter. Theories I've heard:

* (like you said) They want Greece to be an example for the other periphery countries. * It is used as a pretext to chip away at Greek sovereignty and give the (unlected) European commission additional powers over the country. * The core banks' insolvency becomes totally apparent if Greece defaults, so they pressure the ECB to keep up the charade that it's all necessary. * It's used as an excuse to sell off valuable Greek state assets on the cheap to politically connected individuals and companies. * Or all of the above.