Thanks a million for your summary.
I completely agree with you that it's better for the economies in the long run to implement austerity programs than just inflate the money base (I guess Germany is a pretty good example). At the same time, the current situation with 16 euro zone countries with very different economic needs doesn't seem optimal.
For once, the price mechanism that maintains efficiency is now basically broken. If Greece had it's own currency, market forces would have pushed the value of Greek currency down, thus making exports cheaper. Now, of course, independent Greece central bank would likely try to inflate the currency if it had the chance, but this is now happening anyway with the ECB lending to banks at artificially low rates.
So as I see it, it would be best to have an own currency which is allowed to float AND a strong independent central bank that won't succumb to political pressure and that will force the politician to implement austerity programs. Welcome to Utopia.