Greek Bailout Depends on Monster To-Do List

Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Nine days is all the time that Greece's creditors have given it to enact reforms, which, say nationalists, amount to nothing less than a forfeiture of sovereignty.

Yet if Greece does not comply, it will fail to qualify for its next infusion of bailout money ($172 billion) and will almost certainly default on its loans.

Here's a small sampling of what Greece has on its to-do list between now and March 1:

-- Rewrite its constitution to give priority to debt service.
-- Establish an escrow account that can be tapped only by holders of Greek debt.
-- Accept financial oversight from foreign "inspectors."
-- Fire a legion of under-performing tax collectors.
-- Enact legislation liberalizing the country's closed professions.
-- Tighten rules against bribery.
-- Prepare at least two large state-controlled companies for sale.

Add to this that some lenders reportedly feel it may be necessary to postpone Greece's national elections, now set for April, if the nation slips any further into violence and social chaos.

"That's a lot," says Mark Weisbrot of what Greece has on its plate. Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., on Thursday is releasing a report titled "What Are They Doing to Greece?" that says a Greek default and Greece's exit from the European Union are outcomes that should be taken seriously.

"The European authorities are really pushing Greece to the limit, not just in an economic sense but politically," he says. "It will invite a nationalist backlash.  It could help push Greece out of the Euro Zone as well."

While Weisbrot thinks Greece will somehow find a way to mollify its creditors by the March 1 deadline, his confidence has less to do with Greece's ability to accomplish reforms than with other EU nations' willingness to overlook its failure.

"They have more to lose than Greece does," he says. "Nobody knows what the consequences would be for Europe of a Greek default.  You hear all this bluster from the Netherlands and from Germany, but that's just bluff.  I'm not saying there wouldn't be a meltdown.  I'm saying there's enough uncertainty that the rest of Europe doesn't want to find out what would happen."

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio