WATCHING the eurozone implosion is frightening, because the financial insulation for the U.S. economy is not clear. All the 11th-hour help for Greece — austerity measures, massive write-offs of bond debt and breathtaking loans — does not provide a discernible buffer.

European bondholders are eating tons of public debt, as the Greek government promises to slash its payrolls and benefits. More than half of its debt obligation to private creditors will be axed.

In the meantime, the ability to grow the economy through exports or afford imported goods diminishes by the second.

As negotiated, and viewed as progress, the deal would reduce Greece's debt to 120 percent of its gross domestic product by 2020. The belt-tightening, however overdue, will hit the economy hard in the near term.

All of the gut-level fears about Greece are compounded by those who know the grim details about Spain and Portugal. Even Italy. Reconciliation of this level of debt takes an enormous toll. The Associated Press reports middle-class wages have slumped 15 percent in Ireland, and the sales tax is at 23 percent.

How will all this bite the U.S. economy in the backside? No one seems to be sure, especially since the universe of investment devices and financial links is studiously opaque. Our economy was whacked by mortgage-backed investments with tendrils around the globe. The U.S. housing market caught pneumonia and Iceland went under.

The future for Greece et al. is the scary part. Bad things would happen in the wake of a big default, now avoided. Bad things might happen as a result of the cure.

As the U.S. gropes in the dark with the eurozone, how can Congress refuse to add transparency to our own economy? For starters, bring back all three-dozen pages of the Glass-Steagall Act.