Will Greece Join These Deadbeats That Missed Debt Payments to the IMF?

If cash-poor Greece fails to make any of its $1.7 billion in loan repayments to the International Monetary Fund this month, starting with $334 million due Friday, the country will be enshrined in history with a group of current and former deadbeats that includes Cuba, Zimbabwe, and Sudan.

What sets Greece apart from many other cases is that it wasn't done in by war, revolution, or violence—but rather by its own debt and spending, compounded by a financial crisis and austerity measures imposed by the IMF and other creditors. (IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde was meeting in Berlin Monday night with creditors, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ECB President Mario Draghi, to discuss reaching an accord over the Greek crisis, according to three people familiar with the gathering.)