Obama: Debt Crisis in Greece ‘Not Something that Should Prompt Overreactions’

Obama: Debt Crisis In Greece "Not Something That Should Prompt Overreactions" (RealClearPolitics)

At a press conference today, President Obama said Greece is primarily a concern for Europeans and is "not something that should prompt overreactions" in the United States.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: In layman's terms for the American people, this is not something that we believe will have a major shock to the system but obviously it's very painful for the Greek people and it can have a significant effect on growth rates in Europe. And if Europe is not growing the way it needs to grow, that has an impact on us, it has an impact on Brazil. Those are major export markets. And that can have a dampening effect on the entire world economy.

It's something that we're monitoring. It's something we've spent a lot of time on. [Treasury Secretary] Jack Lew has been on the phone fairly consistently over the past several months. I've spoken to my European counterparts, encouraging them to find a path towards resolution. So it's something that we take seriously, but it's not something that I think should prompt overreactions.