The relevance of the ECB for Greece

When European Central Bank President Mario Draghi held a scheduled news conference on Thursday, what Greece took away from his comments were words of caution regarding a trial bond issue and that inclusion in the quantitative easing program is not yet on the cards for Athens. The rest of the world, though, was tuning in to a different message.

As has often been the case over the last eight to nine years, Greece's rather unique status means that the issues which concern local politicians, media and citizens are rather different to what our peers in the eurozone are interested in. We exist, to a large extent, in our own bubble and are often oblivious of matters that are broader (and often much more important) than the narrow confines of our existence under the international bailout.

Let's start off, though, by examining what Draghi said about Greece. He was asked about...