Author: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera

Events of the past week suggest “the street” is beginning to take control of the financial system. People are expressing fears about the future of the euro and Europe by taking their money out of banks.

Former Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told CNBC  there are no preparations underway in Greece for possibly exiting the euro, but can't "exclude the possibility" that other countries are making arrangements.

A senior executive at a Greek bank says the pace of withdrawals has slowed further on Wednesday, after a large spike on Monday. Late Tuesday, data inadvertently revealed by the country's president showed 700 million euros ($889.7 billion) worth of withdrawals on Monday alone.

Greece has a 436 million euro principal repayment due Tuesday. So far, the country has not decided what to do.

The head of Greece's Radical Left Coalition, Alexis Tsipras, told CNBC Thursday he will "go as far as I can" to keep Greece in the euro zone despite declaring earlier this week that the Greek bailout agreement is “null and void” and should be abandoned.

When handed the right to try and form a coalition government in Greece, Alexi Tsipras told the world the Greek bailout agreement is “null and void” and should be abandoned. .

The surprise winner in the Greek elections is a communist party called the Coalition of the Radical Left. Its leader spoke with CNBC in September about a Greek program to keep the country financially afloat.

The pope's visit to Cuba is providing a rare opportunity to see first hand the economic state of one of the last bastions of socialism, and whether or not a few new market-oriented laws are the start of meaningful change.

Does Greece’s recent debt restructuring constitute a default? The widely-watched decision on Thursday was no—or at least not yet.

European finance ministers are set to decide by Monday whether to give a new loans to Greece. But if you want to improve Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio, don’t give them any more debt.

European leaders are beginning to accept the idea that Greece will be forced to default on its debt, causing a long-feared "credit event" that triggers billions of dollars of credit default swaps.

In an exclusive interview, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is taking straight aim at those who suggest Greece should abandon the euro: “This is really not an option.”

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, in an exclusive interview with CNBC, said “printing money is not an answer” when it comes to the European Financial Crisis, and declined to wade into the growing controversy over the ECB’s role in Greek debt.

Already mired in controversy about whether it should play a greater role in solving the European financial crisis, the European Central Bank is facing criticism over what they’ve already done to help — buying Greek debt.

As negotiators arrive back in Athens today, Greece enters a pivotal time period in which it must finish a crucial renegotiation of its more than $200 billion of debt.