By DAVID McHUGH
AP Business Writer
FRANKFURT, Germany – Greece’s economy is small but the shock waves from a default on its debt could be amplified by links in the global financial system to hurt stocks, banks and entire economies far from the epicenter in Athens.
In Greece, banks could go bust, overwhelming the government’s ability to bail them out, and lenders in France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe could suffer serious losses.
And the resulting market turmoil could strain the European’ Union’s backstop fund, pushing European leaders to drum up yet more taxpayer financing, with voters already annoyed at funding other people’s failed governments.