How The Greece Ended Up With The Worst Debt Crisis Of Our Lifetime Essay

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.

Greece has one of the biggest shipping fleets in the world. It is located in Southern Europe, is part of the European Union (EU) and a Parliamentary republic. Greece is surrounded by Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Turkey, the Aegean Sea, the Ionia Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and consists of over 1,400 islands. Populated currently with 11.4 million people, who are mainly of Christian faith. Greece’s current president is Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister is Alexis Tsipral. (Greece country profile, 2018)

As far as Greece’s role in creating this crisis in the first place, it can be said that Greece is at fault for a variety of reasons. The media has been focusing on the corrupt political system and infrastructure, the lack of competition in the private sector, the wastefulness and inefficiency of the public sector and a flawed tax system as causation for this mess. When the public sector was expanded in the 1980’s, Andreas Papandreou was given various agricultural subsidies and grants to do with what he pleased. This enabled the funding of certain post-World War II groups to heal political wounds and fund unions and other special interest groups to aid his political capital and strength. The policies enacted in this decade allowed for the increase in power and funding of the middle class by creating a vast amount of inefficient public sector government jobs for citizens. This resulted in an increase in the levels of inefficiency, bureaucracy, corruption and wasteful spending coupled with the increase in wages, pensions and benefits. This proceeded to drain through government money and resources, and did not breed a culture of highly motivated, efficient and effective government employees. A high amount of debts accumulated as the nation continued to proceed in this way, using state money to subsidize failing businesses

Recently Greece’s economy has been suffering. The economy of Greece was almost destroyed during World War II and during the Greek civil war (Baxevanis). Greece’s economy has been suffering since two thousand eight.

A country who’s economy was devastated by the monetary exports demanded of them by the second world war, Greece has shown great financial fluctuation and vulnerability within the last 80 years, resulting in one of the most disputed economic records in the history of the European Union. Dubbed the ‘Greek Economic Miracle’, Greece showed great resilience throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, with credit to their superior food trade and shipping industry, continuing to produce high levels of economic growth in contrast to others that had also been affected by the war. With the Treaty of Accession (1979) entering into force on 1st January 1981, Greek’s commitment to the European Communities (European Union) proved pivotal regarding it’s controversial qualification into the Eurozone in 2000. Owing to this, in an attempt to recover the unstable foundations of its economy, Greece has since been subject to various regulations and measures of austerity, leaving what was once a highly commended country both financially and socially, in a deplorable state of desperation.

In this research paper, we will be covering the causes, financial repercussions and social implications of this crisis. We will also be examining the methods used by the Greek government to rescue the economy. To conclude, we will discuss possible resolution measures and objectively forecast the future

Greece has many historical aspects such as the acropolis where many polytheistic worshipers came to worship the Gods, the first Olympics, as well as the first democracy, however one question that the whole world is asking is “will Greece’s debt soon be history”? The prime minister, Alexis Tripras, is unwilling to pay of the billions of euros of its debt. Germany and France has loaned billions of euros and are now trying to create a plan to solve this problem. The International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and other organizations have declined all of Greece’s request for more loans. Although the majority countries in the world have debt, Greece has been loaned billions of euros from many european countries, the EU, and other international organizations; this is a problem because this country is doing all in its power to accept more grants, unwilling to give the overdue credits back.

Greece joined the EU in January 1981. Most observers believe that Greece lied about its fiscal situation to join admission into the EU. For example, from 1995 to 2014, Greece had an average budget of 7% versus the 3% limit. By 1996, government debt was above 100% versus

In Georgios P. Kouretas and Prodromos Vlamis 's work, The Greek Crisis: Causes and Implications, the authors indentified "at least three key players," which led to Greece 's continued financial crisis (Kouretas and Vlamis, 393). The first and most responsible institution was the Greek government and its feeble political system. Throughout the years, the national government mismanaged the domestic economy to the level that the economy was adding on government debt at a rate faster than any other eurozone nation. Combined with its rapid increase was its debt/GDP ratio was already greater than 100% by the time of the crisis. In order to combat this overspending, Greece implemented tough austerity in both its fiscal and economic policies (in order to lower its budget deficit and debt/GDP ratio) while relying on 110 billion euro package, provided by the EU and IMF, to finance its short-term operations. As a consequence of its large budget deficit, the financial market downgraded Greece 's credit rating to the point that the country had to withdraw from the international bond markets (due to extremely high interest rates). The final major factor lies in the response of both Eurozone governments and the European

Greece’s economy ranks 130th freest in the 2015 index and a score of 54.0 in economic

The Nationality in Greece is Greek. The population is currently 10,775,557. Out of the population 93% is Greek and 7% is other. The Greek population grows by 0.01% each year. The literacy rate is 96%. This includes 97% of males and 94.5% of females in Greece This. Literacy rate means that ages 15 and older can read and write. Greek jobs include tourism, shipping industries, tobacco processing, food processing, real estate, and many more.

According to the World Fact Book, in 2016, even though the public debt of the country is still 179.4% of Greece’s GDP, Greece saw slight improvements in GDP and unemployment. The economy remains stagnant, because of unfinished economic reforms, a massive non-performing loan problem, and ongoing uncertainty regarding the political direction of the country.

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

According to the World Fact Book, in 2016, even though the public debt of the country is still 179.4% of Greece’s GDP, Greece saw slight improvements in GDP and unemployment. The economy remains stagnant, because of unfinished economic reforms, a massive non-performing loan problem, and ongoing uncertainty regarding the political direction of the country.

Greece is an European country located on the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It’s the southernmost country on the Balkan Peninsula. Greece human development, which is the statistic of life extensity, educations, per capita income indicators; is at 0.866 with 1.0 being the best. Making Greece a more developed country when compared to Egypt in 0.691 but not as much as others when compared to the United States which is at 0.920. This ranks Greece at number twenty-nine of the most developed country in the world.