Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA have been very outspoken about the need for a European Debt Conference à la 1953. To a certain extent, that makes eminent sense. Even Prof. Hans-Werner Sinn has proposed this idea.
However, Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA might not like if they got what Germany got in 1953. Germany was not a sovereign nation then; neither was Austria. In Germany, it was the Americans who were running the show. Documents released recently showed that not even the currency reform and the introduction of the much admired Deutsche Mark, generally thought of as a master piece of Ludwig Erhard, were of German doing.
In Austria, the Americans had a High Commissioner who had to supervise the spending of the European Recovery Fund (Marshall Plan). There were always conditions attached to the disbursements. Interestingly, already back in the early 1950s, the High Commissioner demanded that the public sector and bureaucracy would have to urgently be reduced. Well, Americans are not almighty. If Austria's public sector and bureaucracy had only stayed at the levels of the early 1950s without any reduction, then everything would be fine today!
So, are Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA prepared to accept a EU High Commissioner, stationed in Athens, who will have the final say on every policy issue?
If not, think twice before you demand a debt conference à la 1953!