Preview

Greek Debt Crisis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3532 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Greek Debt Crisis
ECONOMICS PROJECT

EUROPEAN DEBT CRISIS

CONTENTS

1. Preface 2. Introduction 3. Aims and Objectives 4. European Debt Crisis ▪ Greek Debt Crisis ▪ Causes of the Greek Debt Crisis ▪ Effects of the Greek Debt Crisis ▪ Solutions to the Greek Debt Crisis 5. Research Methodology 6. Conclusion 7. References

PREFACE

Europe's debt crisis is a continuation of the global financial crisis and also the result of how Europe attempted to solve the global financial crisis that brought an end to a decade of prosperity and unrestricted debt. European attempts at defending itself against a deep recession, has now created a new crisis of unsustainable and un-serviceable sovereign debt. In early 2010 fears of a sovereign debt crisis, the 2010 Euro Crisis developed concerning some European states including European Union members Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain,(affectionately known as the PIIGS) and Belgium. This led to a crisis of confidence as well as the widening of bond yield spreads and risk insurance on credit default swaps between these countries and other EU members, most importantly Germany. Concern about rising government deficits and debt levels across the globe together with a wave of downgrading of European government debt has created alarm in financial markets. The debt crisis has been mostly centered on recent events in Greece, where there is concern about the rising cost of financing government debt. On 2 May 2010, the Euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a €110 billion loan for Greece, conditional on the implementation of harsh Greek austerity measures. On 9 May 2010, Europe's Finance Ministers approved a comprehensive rescue package worth almost a trillion dollars aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe by creating the European Financial Stability Facility. Europe's heavyweights spent

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Sovereign Debt Crisis

    • 16441 Words
    • 66 Pages

    has increased substantially. A number of factors related to the financial crisis have fueled the…

    • 16441 Words
    • 66 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    QUESTION 1: Eastern Europe is currently in severe financial distress. Discuss why the crisis has affected the Eastern European countries in such a strong way. Reflect on the interdependency between the members of the European Union. How does situation in Eastern Europe affect countries in Western Europe?…

    • 885 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The financial headlines of 2012 were prevalent with the tribulations of the Greek economy. Its problems, in the eyes of many of the other nations of the euro zone, were not only negatively impacting the prosperity of the Greeks, but also the viability of the European Union. The country as a whole requires a major restructuring. Not only are drastic changes needed in financial and economic policies, but the Greeks need to understand their attitude of government entitlements cannot be sustained. The mismanagement of the Greek economy is also evident in its place in the global market community. It has not found the path that a county needs to follow to become an active member of the vibrant, high growth world of globalization.…

    • 2413 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    European Union

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Although they tried to build harmony among themselves that is essential for them to avoid violence and helps to bond a strong political relation among each other .However , various level of social and economic growth as well as the change in values ,principles and political situation between members are the chief causes of discord among them. The current discord among European union (EU) which is one of the biggest financial and political union ,could be the regional economic combination which has been hindered the free trade of some countries across the EU. By local economic integration in today’s globalization, contracts among countries in a geographic region to attain economic improvements from the free movement of trade and investment among themselves (Hill, 2013). The Eurozone is obviously having a decline, unless a new wave of crisis. The London Financial Times states that, an 11 billion euro has been originated in the program for saving the Greek economy. The publication conditions that before the end of this year, the governments of the European nations which are the central holders of Greek debts want to allot an average half of that amount to the Greek government. Or else…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fin 415

    • 2420 Words
    • 10 Pages

    "Unless you have strong contagion into Spain and Italy, it's unlikely to be really an issue that would undermine the whole euro zone." The Greek impasse, created when voters sick of austerity deprived the two main parties which back the country's international bailout programme of a parliamentary majority, has potentially increased the risk of it having to restructure its debts for a second time.…

    • 2420 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Minsky model

    • 3797 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Since the end of the Great Depression “…financial failure has been more extensive and pervasive” in the 30-year period 1980 to 2010 than at any other time leading up to the present day (p. 7). Four financial crises occurred in this 30-year period. The closest in time of the four financial crises to the present period is the recent liquidity crisis, the so-called Great Recession of 2007 – 2009, beginning in the United States, Great Britain, Spain, Ireland and Iceland. Eventually all of the countries of the Eurozone succumbed to the disequilibria of the Great Recession with the Eurozone’s suffering further intensifying because of the emergence of the so-called Sovereign Debt Crisis, a sub-crisis morphing out of the Great Recession in 2010 and 2011, involving Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Cyprus. The Sovereign Debt Crisis is still ongoing having recently extended itself into calendar year 2013.…

    • 3797 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Portugal Research Paper

    • 4783 Words
    • 20 Pages

    In the first weeks of 2010, renewed anxiety about the excessive levels of debt in some EU countries and, more generally, about the health of the euro has spread from Ireland and Greece to Portugal, Spain and…

    • 4783 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Current Issues in Greece

    • 2363 Words
    • 10 Pages

    "Major Gender Work Issues in Present Day Greece ." Greece-Tulane University. . http://www.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/soci626/greece/_sburks/GenderWorkIssues.htm (accessed October 10, 2012).…

    • 2363 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    European Debt Crisis

    • 2361 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The “Greek financial crisis” revolves around the fact that the nation has a high level of debt and accompanied by a high probability of default. The story of the Greek financial crisis obviously coincides with the current global economic crisis; however, the events in Greece are unlike the financial events that have plagued the rest of the world. The story is twofold in that the Greek government is to blame for fraud and their poor financial practices, as well as the ECB for enabling such practices by making the cost of borrowing so low due to Germany and other more stable Eurozone nations.…

    • 2361 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In late 2009, eroding public finances, misreported statistics, and inadequate follow-through on reforms prompted major credit rating agencies to downgrade Greece’s international debt rating, which has led to increased financial instability and a debt crisis. Greek government has approved a three-year reform program that includes cutting government spending, reducing the size of public sector, tackling tax evasion, reforming the health care and pension systems, and improving competitiveness through structural reforms to the labour and product market under the intense pressure by the EU and international lenders. The Greek Government projects that its reform program will achieve a reduction of Greece’s deficit by 4% of GDP in 2010 and allow Greece to decrease the deficit to below 3% by 2012. Greece requested activation of a joint European Union-International…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Euro Crisis 2009

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Furthermore, in Euro Crisis 2009, because of adverse selection, poorer countries become the major member of single currency zone such as Greece, Portugal, Spain and so on. The larger government debt of those poorer countries makes the sovereign debt crisis becomes more intense and the political balance of euro zone fiscal union is more toward to them. Therefore, richer countries in Euro-Zone have to transfer their financial resource to those poorer countries to cover the sovereign debt. With the continuous rising of sovereign debt in Euro zone, Euro Crisis becomes a global financial crisis.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Eurozone Crisis

    • 1637 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Eurozone is a combined group of countries using the euro as their only currency. It was created in 1999 and currently consists of 17 countries – not all part of the European Union (Investor Words). Within the Eurozone, the countries follow a monetary policy and controlled by the European Central Bank (in other words, the ECB controlled the supply of the euro within the 17 countries). In an attempt to control government debt levels and deficit spending the Maastricht Treaty was created. As years passed, some countries government deficit began to rise and increased debt levels. By 2010, Greece (3% of the Eurozone) had public debt around 100% of their GDP. In order to lower their debt levels, the Greek government had increased their taxes and their borrowing levels. Solutions for fixing this issue consisted of stronger countries paying off the Greek debt – however not everyone agreed to such methods. Eventually, the value of the euro went down in the exchange markets and other Eurozone countries such as: Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain faced the same problem as Greece. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) donated money to help reduce the amount of debt – however not enough (Krugman, Obstfeld, Melitz, 2011). Since the Eurozone is controlled by monetary rules and does not consist of fiscal union (government collection of tax’s), it has made it harder for countries to recuperate from the crisis. It has been said that this Eurozone crisis is like a currency crisis as they try to preserve the euro from depreciating and losing value. Although, this is an ongoing crisis, there are certain steps the Eurozone can take in order to release the countries from their ongoing debt levels and hopefully reverse the effects on the euro.…

    • 1637 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Greek Debt Crisis

    • 2797 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Over the past few years, Greek’s ability to pay its sovereign debt became a major issue facing economies worldwide. The downgrade of Greek debt to “junk bond” status made Greek default seem inevitable, causing alarm to permeate financial markets worldwide. Unsustainable spending by the Greek government through the creation of a “welfare state” in Greece was a principle cause leading to the Greek debt crisis, which affected even the United States’ economy. High-paying public jobs, excessive pensions, and non-prosecution of severe tax evasion all helped produce the “welfare state” that is present in Greek culture. The default on Greek debt would then have a ripple effect, causing uncertainty in Euro zone markets, and eventually would spread to the rest of the world, including the United States.…

    • 2797 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    The Eurozone crisis

    • 3510 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Eurozone crisis was not caused by a single factor, it was the result of a compound of errors made by member states in different sectors of the European economy. There are three causes that have been identified as directly leading to the crisis. The problems of competitiveness, debt and the lack of a comprehensive growth model. There are several other causes, but the problems of Greece mirror the problems of the rest of the Eurozone. In order to fully evaluate and understand the causes of the Eurozone, it is necessary to first look at the way Greece’s debt rose to 112.9% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2009. This was the first asymmetric shock in the Euro, but it wasn’t seen as cause for concern at the time it was revealed. Another major issue that needs to be evaluated is the blatant ignorance of the rules of the Maastricht treaty rules about deficit spending and sovereign debt. This laid a poor foundation for the financial stability of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and its ability to absorb asymmetric shocks. There are doubts about whether or not Europe is an optimal currency area and what makes an optimal currency area, economists have argued over this for some time. The OCA will be evaluated in more detail in this essay. There are a lot of lessons to be taken away from the Euro Crisis, lessons that could help prevent future crises arising from asymmetric shocks, some of these lessons will be evaluated in this essay. Throughout this essay, references will be made to the Greek debt crisis as a case study for the wider issues in the Euro crisis.…

    • 3510 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Debt Crisis in Greece

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages

    THE debt crisis that caused Greece to ask for an international bailout on Friday has been attributed to many things, all economic: Greece’s budget deficits, its lack of transparency and its over-the-top corruption, symbolized by the words “fakelaki,” for envelopes containing bribes, and “rousfeti,” political favors. But there is a deeper cause for the Greek crisis that no one dares mention because it implies an acceptance of fate: geography.…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays