A reading of the German press suggests Chancellor Angela Merkelis at peace with the idea of Greece quitting the euro. Der Spiegelsays her government views that as a manageable outcome; Bildreports that officials are preparing for the prospect. LawmakerMichael Fuchs says Greece is no longer a threat to financialstability.

All that is mostly posturing for an electorate tired of the aidand angst Greece has demanded since 2010. In fact, Germany has nointerest in risking the dissolution of the single currency that aGreek exit could entail.

That's because the status quo is a boon for Germany economicallyand politically. Indeed, the biggest European economy benefits morethan most of its fellow euro members from the single currency.While a Greek departure alone may not end the euro, the risk wouldbe of contagion through the bloc's financial markets that forcedothers out.

If it had to return to the deutsche mark, German exporters,which account for about half of gross domestic product, wouldbecome much less competitive and Merkel's prized current-accountsurplus would shrink. Inflation would weaken further.

Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management in New York reckons adeutsche mark would now trade around US$1.50, about 25 percent morethan the euro's level of about $1.18.

A 2013 report by the Bertelsmann Foundation estimated thatwithout the euro, German GDP would be about 0.5 percentage point ayear smaller through 2025—equivalent to a loss of 1.2 trillioneuros, or 14,000 euros per resident—and cost 200,000 jobs.

A McKinsey & Co. study in 2011 estimated that of the 332billion euros the single currency helped generate for the region'seconomy in 2010, about half of it flowed to Germany.

Such numbers dwarf the 77 billion euros that the Ifo economicinstitute calculates Germany contributed to Greece's bailout.

On the geopolitical stage, Germany would also see its stardimmed. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner lastyear identified German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble as thego-to-guy for the U.S. during Europe's crisis. Russian PresidentVladimir Putin would also welcome strains on the continent.

“Europe can't afford a Greek exit,” Joachim Poss, the SocialDemocrats' deputy finance spokesman in the German parliament, saidin an interview this week. Suggestions by allies of Merkel that the19-nation currency bloc could weather Greece's departure amount to“playing with fire,” he said.

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