Impacts Of The IMF And Greek Debt Crisis

The Troika, made up of the International Monetary Fund, European Commissions and the European Central Bank have the most to lose in this debt crisis as they own 78% of Greek debt. With so much to lose we have seen European “bailout” agreements that mostly front the Greek government more money coupled with crippling austerity in an effort to “rebuild” the economy. Austerity discourages growth as it cuts the spending of the government who is by far the biggest spender in the economy. The effects of austerity can be devastating, but the true effects are often hidden beneath the messages we get from mainstream news sources. The stereotype of the Greek people as lazy and tax evading has desensitized the public and has made austerity seem like more of a sensible option. The media messages have made strict austerity measures seem justified and in effect have hegemozined the Greek people.

After the EFSF bailed out couple of countries including Greece, they decided to find and use a long term strategies in order to enhance liquidity in the EU banking system and there are couple of those rescue solutions:

The article “How Germany Prevailed in the Greek Bailout” discusses Germany’s successes financially in comparison to most other (19 countries) in Europe. Although Germany has such success others see the country as a bully almost due to their militaristic background even though they have come to the aid of Greece and helped. Many other European countries are hesitant about Greece receiving aid considering the countries past failures financially. This is not the first time the country has been in debt and undoubtedly will not be the last. Since the economy fell in 2008 Greece’s unemployment rate is about 22% which is double the U.S. Due to an imbalance in European countries where some are creditors and others debtors it is difficult to fix this

Ever since the end of 2009, Greece has been involved in a financial and economic crisis that has been record breaking and shattered world records in terms of its severity and worldwide effects. The Greek government, since the beginning of the crisis, has attempted to take several governmental measures to try and “stop the bleeding,” including economy policy changes, dramatic government spending and budget cuts and the implementation of new taxes for citizens. In addition to this, the government has tried to alter the perceptions of Greek government and economy by the rest of the world in an effort to appear both more liberal and more democratic. Greece has also been working to privatize many previous

The roots of Greece’s economic problems extend deep down into the recesses of history. After the government dropped the drachma for the euro in 2001, the economy started to grow by an average of 4% annually, almost twice the European Union average. Interest rates were low, unemployment was dropping, and trade was at an all-time high. However, these promising indicators masked horrible fiscal governance, growing government debt and declining current account balances. Greece was banking on the rapid economic growth to build upwards on highly unstable foundations. In 2008, the inevitable happened – the Greek debt crisis.

In 1999, ten European nations joined together to create an economic and monetary union known as the Eurozone. Countries, such as Germany, have thrived with the euro but nations, like Greece, have deteriorated since its adoption of the euro in 2001. The Eurozone was created in 1999 and currently consists of eighteen European nations united under the European Central Bank and all use the euro. The Eurozone has a one point six percent inflation rate and an eleven point six percent unemployment rate in 2014. Greece joined the Eurozone in 2001 and was the poorest European Union member at the time with a two point six percent inflation rate3 (James, 2000). Greece had a long economic history before joining the Eurozone. The economy flourished from 1960 to 1970 with low inflation and modernization and industrialization occurring. The market crash in the late 1970’s led Greece into a state of recession that the nation is still struggling with. Military failures, the PASOK party and the introduction of the euro have further tarnished Greece’s economic stability. The nation struggles with lack of competitiveness, high deficit, and inflation. Greece has many options like bailouts, rescue packages, and PPP to help dig it out of this recession. The best option is to abandon the Eurozone and go back to the drachma. Greece’s inflation and deficit are increasing more and more and loans and bailouts have not worked in the past. Leaving the Eurozone will allow Greece to restructure and rebuild

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

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

Historically, financial crises have been followed by a wave of governments defaulting on their debt obligations. The global economic history has experienced sovereign debt crisis such as in Latin America during the 80s, in Russia at the end of the 90s and in Argentina in the beginning of the 00s. The European debt crisis is the most significant of its kind that the economic world was seen started from 2010. Financial crises tend to lead to, or exacerbate, sharp economic downturns, low government revenues, widening government deficits, and high levels of debt, pushing many governments into default. Greece is currently facing such a sovereign debt crisis and Europe’s most indebted country despite

government borrowed heavily from abroad to fund substantial government budget and current account deficits. Between 2001, when Greece adopted the euro as its currency, and 2008, Greece’s reported budget deficits averaged 5% per year, compared to a Euro zone average of 2%, and current account deficits averaged 9% per year, compared to a Euro zone average of 1%.7 In 2009, the budget deficit is estimated to have been more than 13% of GDP. Many attribute the budget and current account deficits to the high spending of successive Greek governments. Greece funded these twin deficits by borrowing in international

Did you know that beginning in 1826 and ending in 1932, Greece has had a grand sum of 5 defaults? That’s only in modern history! According to Investopedia.com, Greece has had a history of financial troubles since the first default occurred in the fourth century. To top it all off, Greece has spent ninety years which is almost half of the time since it’s independence in a financial crisis? This all leads up to the longheld debate between many citizens of this country and many others that may possibly be affected by this tough decision. At the peak of Greece’s financial crisis, (as of 2016) over 314 billion euros in debt, many are fighting over whether or not they should return back to their original, national currency, otherwise known

During the 2000s, Greece had plenty of access to cheap capital that was fueled by flush capital markets and increased confidence of the investors in the economy following the adoption of the euro in 2001. During this period, the capital inflows were not used to increase the competitiveness of the economy, and European Union (EU) rules which had been designed to limit the accumulation of public debt failed to do so. The global financial crisis of 2008 – 2009 strained public finances as well as subsequent revelations about falsified data drove up Greece’s borrowing costs. Early in 2010, the Greek government made a very devastating decision to default its public debt. The European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund officials have all agreed that an uncontrolled Greek default could trigger a major crisis.

Year after year, Greece continues to receive bail out from the European Union. Other countries neighboring Greece, like Italy, began to experience the debt crisis and eventually needed a stimulus bailout from the European Union too. This domino effect among countries taking loans caused the borrowing interest cost of Europe to increase and the Euro currency to further devalue. As the Euro devalues and Greece fall further in debt, investors all over the world were afraid to invest in Greece because they will lose money or Greece will not be able to pay them back.

Greece knew they were in trouble and they had to receive money from an outside source to keep going as a country and also be able to pay back their creditors. However, Greece was unsure of how to. Greece was interested in paying their creditors back but were not interested in all of the austerity cuts the EU wanted Greece to implement because these cuts would upset some of Greece’s citizens. The EU’s top priority from these negotiations was to make sure Greece would reduce the amount of debt they would be taking on each year. The way the EU was going to make this happen was by making sure Greece implemented austerity cuts. The IMF was not really interested in making Greece implement austerity cuts. (IMF and EU

The second factor attributed to the current financial sovereign debt crisis in Greece centred on the domino effects of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Here, credit ratings agencies and financial institutions within the United States underestimated the effects of a worldwide financial contagion affecting European nations, (Kouretas & Vlamis, 2010, p. 393). Government assistance was provided to