Greece : The Debt Crisis

The financial crisis that put our economy on a downhill rocky road is known as the Great Recession of 2008. The U.S. Governments resolution to one the biggest panics was revolved around multiple bailout and fiscal measures. The fight to pull our weakening economy out of a dark hole left the American people with hope of advancing what gets thrown their way. The many bailout programs implemented by the U.S. Government can only hold the economy together for so long until were up to our knees in debt.

hroughout History, our great Nation, the United States of America, went through many era's of financial crises that resulted in depressions. This also happened in 2008, when we experienced an immense financial crisis known as the Great Depression of 2008-2009. In an effort to end the financial crises, the government established three major bailouts: the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Overall, the financial crises of the Great Recession of 2008-2009 caused the government to implement various bail-outs in an attempt to stabilize the economy. These programs have their own advantages and disadvantages that affect individuals and

Greece is a thriving country, but if it wasn’t for its beautiful islands, seas, and mountains, Greece would not be as strong of a country today. All these factors have helped Greece grow as a country. Throughout history, various mountains such as Mount Olympus and seas such as the Mediterranean have played an important role in the development of Greece history and culture.

The economic and financial crisis of 2008/2009 can be attributed to many things. The main reason for the crisis can be attributed to the housing industry and the mortgages associated. When individuals borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars from the

The Eurozone is facing a serious sovereign debt crisis. Several Eurozone member countries have high, potentially unsustainable levels of public debt. Three—Greece, Ireland, and Portugal—have borrowed money from other European countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to avoid default. With the largest public debt and one of the largest budget deficits in the Eurozone, Greece is at the centre of the crisis. The crisis is a continuing interest to Congress due to the strong economic and political ties between the United States and Europe.

The economic crisis of 2008 in New York had ripple effects around the world, causing deep structural problems within the European Union to crumble the economies of several countries. These countries, known as the PIGS, are made up of Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, and collectively hold most of the sovereign debt problems of the European Union. After fast growth early in the decade, these countries were spending too much money and not securing their own banking sectors with enough capital. Soon, the debt the PIGS owed caused massive problems throughout the EU, and Germany and France had to come to the rescue of these poorly managed countries. (Greek Crisis Timeline, 1) Now, in 2012, the issue has yet to be fully resolved. Greece is still sinking, and a massive bailout for Greece's banks is required. The debate is whether Germany should continue bailing out Greece and collecting interest on its loans, or whether Greece should try to separate itself from the broader European Union, in an attempt to manage its own finances and declare bankruptcy in order to save itself from crippling interest payments. Each path offers an escape from the present situation that Greece finds itself in, but only the path of bailout results in a harmonious European Union. If Greece fragments off from the EU, then the entire union is weakened as a result. I believe that Greece should accept the terms of the bailout that Germany has provided, and should undergo several years

Due to debt levels reached a high point where Greece has not any longer able to repay its loans, and were forced to ask for help from its European partners and the IMF in the form of massive loans. Therefore, the higher debt level and the attached conditions have compounded Greece 's woes (Arghyrou & Tsoukalas, 2011)

According to Cia.com, Greece has a capitalist economy with a public sector, representing about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP about two-thirds that of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 18% of GDP. However, immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in agricultural and unskilled jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP.

The financial crisis of 2008-2009 was an extremely significant event in recent history and has been described as “perhaps the most important economic event since the Great Depression” (Gorton & Metrick, 2012, p.g. 150). We are still experiencing the effects of the crisis today and there is a considerable amount of literature on the subject. There has been much research into the crisis and what caused it (Gorton and Metrick, 2012). Using some of this research both the causes and effects of the financial crisis can be explored. This essay will discuss what happened in the months leading up to the crisis, the causes and effects of the financial crisis and tackles some of the questions that researchers have asked regarding the events of 2008-2009.

On this method alone, both parties have benefits to gain and ground to potentially lose, but there are other important areas that may make this solution more appealing and beneficial.

Although a commonly accepted view is that the hidden budget deficit in Greece is the beginning of the European sovereign debt crisis, the real causes of this economic crisis can be various. To reveal the whole event, a comprehensive review of the background is

Greece is one of the most developed countries but today it has a debt of over 300 billion Euros which began two years ago including purchasing power parity. Greece is ranked 38th and 44th in the world for nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP). The base for Greek crisis is mix of domestic and international factors. Locally incorporates high government spending, auxiliary rigidities, charge avoidance and defilement. Greece was a standout amongst the most seriously hit nation among the EU. The nation 's biggest commercial enterprises are

The problem Greek is being faced with today could be dated back to 2001 when the Euro emerged and the drachma was dropped. The emergence of the Euro lead to an

However, in 2009, Greece started to hit the crisis as it is indebted heavily to eurozone countries and become one of three eurozone countries that have gone under two bail-out. Although the Greek economy is relatively small with direct damage of it defaulting on its debts may be soaked up by the eurozone (Financial Times, 2012). The need of financial support from EU and the IMF was requested in 2010 as a loan of 45bn. According to Carmen Reinhart - Co-author of This Time is Different; she believed that it was difficult for Greece to get out of the crisis without restructuring. The problem of the Greek crisis is involved with fiscal problems, which can be income problem, profiling problem, servicing problem or balance sheet problem. As the government took benefit from the growth, they ran a large structural deficit. The restructuring happens more slowly with the support from the EU and IMF, therefore, the private bank from France, Switzerland, etc. which gave a loan to Greece, are not distressed with a huge haircut. As a result, Greece owned the IMF 28bn Euros, the EU 74bn Euros and had a market debt of 262 bn Euros, according to JP Morgan. From 2000 to 2008, the Greek budget deficit was 5.1% as a real number instead of 2.9% of GDP (Marzinotto et al. 2010). In 2009, George Papandreou won the election with his promise of spending more on social causes and trying to reduce the loan that Greece faced. A short time

Background on Greece’s Debt Crisis “You cannot spend more than (what) you earn…you should not borrow more than (what) you can afford.” This, according to an editorial published by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, may be the lesson Greeks are now learning the hard way.1 Unrestrained spending of successive Greek governments over a long period may have driven the country’s budget and current account deficits.2 Greece borrowed heavily from international capital markets to finance public sector jobs, pensions and other social benefits.3 As deficits and the country’s debt burden grew, the governments just kept on borrowing. 4 When Greece joined the eurozone in 2001, it gained monetary stability and was able to borrow at lower interest rates –