Culture of consumption and debt as a means of leverage, both elements of financial greed. The history of slash and burn is readily evident in a long string of scandals ranging from the
S&L Scandal to ENRON and other
corporate scandals to the
tech bubble,
housing bubble and following mortgage crisis (which bailed deregulated banks out of the collapse of the housing bubble).
Typically, when one sector has been destroyed, vulture capitalists turn to another and pick it clean. The Greek financial crisis is largely the result of specualtion and the same kind of
credit default swaps that caused the mortgage crisis in the US. These same techniques are being used against other economies including Ireland and Italy to generate financial profit at any cost.
The idea that eventually they will run out of things to destroy in their quest for profit apparently hasn't crossed the minds of those engaged in such pursuits.