When things go completely out of hand in a bad marriage, divorce is one way to end it. However, divorce is always costly!

The costs involved would be enormous and there can be no doubt that Greek exit from the eurozone would be costly both for Greece and the euro area.

Time is running out and it seems a Greek exit may be the best way to end the acrimonious relationship that now exists between Greece and the eurozone.

However, before both sides run to the best lawyers on earth, Greek politicians should pause and think again about what brought them to the EU in the first place and calculate not only the benefits but the costs of a divorce.

Greek exit would open up new economic and political possibilities for Greece.

It would allow it to issue a new devalued drachma that would improve the competitiveness of its exports and lead to a powerful sense of freedom and of liberation, knowing that the country’s fate was in its own hands.

It might even generate a renewed commitment to repair the fiscal laws – most notably, to tackle rampant tax evasion.

So far, so good. But it’s not all rosy. With divorce, Greece would experience a run on its banks, a panicked flight of capital, an inevitable return of capital controls and bank closures. The drachma would plunge in value, raising the price of imports and increasing the trade deficit. Divorce would bring chaos.

The costs would also be huge for the euro area. Much, if not all, of the outstanding claims of European banks on Greek banks would be lost once the latter closed their doors. As at the end of 2014, these claims totalled €50 billion.

Time is short. But there is still time to save this marriage if both sides try hard enough.