Wolf: Nobody was forced to lend to Greece.

Initially, private lenders were happy to lend to the Greek government on much the same terms as to the German government.

Then, in 2010, it became clear the money would not be repaid.

Rather than agree to the write-off that was needed, governments (and the International Monetary Fund) decided to bail out the private creditors by refinancing Greece.

Martin Wolf, FT 21 April 2015