...Introduction Historically, financial crises have been followed by a wave of governments defaulting on their debt obligations. 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. As recovery from the global financial crisis begins, but the global recession endures, some point to the threat of a second wave of the crisis: sovereign debt crises. Greece is currently facing a classic sovereign debt crisis. Greece accumulated high levels of debt during the decade before the crisis, when capital markets were highly liquid. As the crisis has unfolded, and capital markets have become more illiquid, Greece may no longer be able to roll over its maturing debt obligations. Some analysts have discussed the possibility of a Greek default. To avoid such a default, however, the Greek government has introduced a variety of austerity measures and, on April 23, 2010, formally requested financial assistance from the other 15 European Union (EU) member states that use the euro as their national currency (the Euro zone) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).Greece’s debt crisis has raised a host of questions about the merits of the euro and the prospects for future European integration, with some calling for more integration and others less. Some have also pointed to possible problems associated with a common monetary policy but diverse national fiscal policies...
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...The European Union, officially implemented in 1999, created history as the first political and economic integration of its kind. However, in recent news, this union has been undergoing a series of severe economic crisis among member countries. The following paper will look to analyze this issue by examining its main causes, the reasons behind their severe suffering when compared to United States, European nationalism, and the future of international businesses in the case of a Eurozone collapse. Main causes of Eurocrisis The causes of the Eurozone crisis are both numerous and complex creating somewhat of the perfect storm within the member countries’ respective local economies at the start of the downturn. For the purpose of analysis, the main causes of the Eurocrisis can be divided into three main categories: sovereign debt, banking and inflation, as well as politics and labor. The following case will explore these categories in further detail. To begin with, the ratification of the Maastricht treaty, forming the European Union, brought with it two conditions that potential member countries had to meet in order to be able to adopt the Euro currency. Specifically, given the interdependent nature of the agreement, a member state was required to demonstrate economic health. This was measured annually through their maintenance of fiscal deficits under 3% of GDP, and government debt below 60% of GDP (Roscini & Schlefer, 2012, p.1). However, during the years preceding Greece’s...
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...reference to greece) the euro-zone ‘The Eurozone’ is the nickname commonly used to describe the member states that use the EU’s single currency, the Euro. The idea of creating a single currency for the European Community was first mentioned in the 1970 Werner report, which led to the establishing of the European Monetary System (EMS), the forerunner of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The Maastricht Treaty (1992) made EMU a part of EU law and set out a plan to introduce the single currency (the Euro) by 1999. The Maastricht Treaty also established certain budgetary and monetary rules for countries wishing to join the EMU (known as the convergence criteria). In 1998, 11 member states (Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Austria and Finland) undertook the final stage of EMU when they adopted a single exchange rate, which was set by the European Central Bank (Britain, Sweden and Denmark negotiated an opt-out from this final states of EMU). The new Euro notes and coins were launched on 1 January 2002. There are currently 16 EU states in the Eurozone. Greece joined the initial 11 members in 2001, Slovenia joined in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008, and Slovakia joined in 2009. Estonia is due to join the Eurozone in 2011. All future members of the EU must adopt the Euro when they fulfil the convergence criteria. Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) Step 1: a country loses a degree of economic sovereignty when it enters a trade bloc...
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...as the Fiscal Compact. In addition to that we will interview a person who has strong convictions regarding the Fiscal Compact. To conclude, we will present our opinions and recommendations based upon our research and findings. We will seek to predict whether the Treaty will solve the Eurozone Crisis or plunge the EMU into greater financial instability. Background and Contributing Factors A number of factors contributed to the signing of the Fiscal Compact Treaty on 2 March 2012 (European Council, 2013). Although the Eurozone crisis was the main driving force behind the signing of the Fiscal Compact, a number of flaws existed before the collapse of the Eurozone (McArdle, 2012). McArdle (2012) notes that a major drawback was the fact that the Eurozone didn’t have a common fiscal policy. A “Stability and Growth Pact” (SGP) was passed and came into effect on the 1st January 1999 and made a number of key structural changes (McArdle, 2012). However, by that stage the Eurozone had never endured a deep recession. As a result when the worldwide economic recession hit Europe in the summer of 2007, the stability of the Eurozone was shook to its very foundations (European Commission, 2009). The Eurozone Crisis began in 2008 when a number of debt-heavy countries within the EU, namely Ireland, Greece and Portugal, could no...
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...Contents page Page Task 1 : The organisational purposes of businesses 2 Task 2: The nature of national environment in which businesses Operate 4 Task 3 : The behaviour of organisations in their market Environment 7 Task 4 : The importance of global factors which shape the national business activities 9 Business Environment Assessment This piece of work aims to provide a comprehensive overview of specific topics related to business environment domain. There are four main objectives which the present piece of work intends to achieve and they include: to provide a clear description of the organisational purposes of a selected company/business and present its main focus, products and performance on the market; to contribute knowledge regarding the nature of the national environment in which businesses operate, to identify and analyse the behaviour businesses exhibit in their market environment and to evaluate the importance of those global factors which shape the national business performance and activity (Business Environment Lecture Notes, 2012-13). Task 1. The organisational purposes of businesses OFCOM UK 1.1 Organisation's objectives, their monitoring and achievement OFCOM UK is an independent regulator and competition authority body for the UK's communication industries, as such, it operates in this sector of communication...
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...real-world economics review, issue no. 58 The Eurozone crisis: Looking through the financial fog with Keynesian glasses Jorge Buzaglo [Sweden] Copyright: Jorge Buzaglo, 2011 You may post comments on this paper at http://rwer.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/rwer-issue-58-jorge-buzaglo/ It is easy to become confused about what is really happening to the European economies. The media are totally focused on financial surface phenomena. Attention is given only to the developments in the financial markets, in particular the growing difficulties of the so called PIIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) for keeping on financing their government spending by increasing debt — as reflected by increasing spreads in interest rates (e.g. compared with German rates). However, looking just below the surface one discovers that the Eurozone is suffering from a kind of disequilibrium that is similar to the type of imbalance existing in the trade relationship between the US and China. The origin of the US-China imbalance can be found in the huge expansion of credit and debt in the US (a Minsky-type process), which financed a large consumption and import boom — including a boom in imports from China in particular. The vast import boom caused in turn a large US trade deficit and a growing external debt. External debts cannot grow indefinitely; at some point markets judge them unsustainable. With a de facto fixed exchange rate between the dollar and the yuan, the only way available...
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...MAster’s in Global Management 2012/13 | EUROZONE CRISIS | Prof. Ricardo Lima | | Anar husseynov, Girish Medh, Shakeb Assri. | 1/2/2013 | Hochschule Bremen University of Applied Sciences | Contents 1.Introduction 3 2. History 3 2.1. The Werner Report — EMU in three stages 3 2.2. Snake in the tunnel 4 3. Purpose of single currency 5 4. Gross Domestic Product 5 5. Inflation 7 6. SWOT ANALYSIS 8 6.1. Strength 9 6.2. Weakness 9 6.3. Opportunities 9 6.4. Threats 10 7. Eurozone Crisis. 10 8. Greece’s Debt Crisis: Background 12 8.1. Build-Up to the Current Crisis 12 8.2. Financial Assistance from the Eurozone Member States and IMF 14 8.3 Why didn’t Greece leave the Euro? 15 9.Recommendations 17 10. References 18 1.Introduction The euro (symbol: €; banking code: EUR) is the currency of 17 EU member states. It was launched on 01.01.1999 virtually, but physically launched from 01.01.2002. The currency is the second most traded currency after the US dollar. The currency is used by around 332 million people daily. €915 million in circulation, highest combined value of Bank notes in circulation in world. The countries that use the euro are Finland, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. If you are planning a trip to Europe then the euro is the currency you will need for most of the locations you visit. There are additional countries...
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...Topic: Perspectives of GPE The theory of Adam Smith´s “invisible hand” states that the market is conformed by consumers and producers, who create the demand (competitors) and supply. The basic element of the market (consumers – producers – demand – supply) is freedom, each consumer and producer chooses freely what to buy and what to produce, as a result a healthy and natural competition. Freedom makes demand and supply more efficient because production methods are focused to maximize profits, by using the resources efficiently. The essential part of this system is that competition is automatic and balanced, not controlled by external factors. Adam Smith and various liberal thinkers support that the economic system and competition of any country or area should work like this; without manipulating any of the factors that affect demand and supply, in order to create the best profit in the market and utilize resources efficiently. Mercantilism supports the prosperity o a nation, the nation authorities or government is responsible of the capital supply. Capital is supported by bullion (example gold) which creates a positive and “healthy” balance trade among nations. Mercantilism supports government as the “father” of the market, where they must protect certain actors as producers or consumers in order to achieve a balance in the economy. Therefore the point of view of the mercantilists brings as a result unfair competition, compared to the liberals...
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...Local Economy http://lec.sagepub.com/ The euro crisis Andrew Jones Local Economy 2011 26: 594 DOI: 10.1177/0269094211421748 The online version of this article can be found at: http://lec.sagepub.com/content/26/6-7/594 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: London South Bank University Local Economy Policy Unit Partner Organisation: Centre for Local Economic Strategies Additional services and information for Local Economy can be found at: Email Alerts: http://lec.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://lec.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://lec.sagepub.com/content/26/6-7/594.refs.html >> Version of Record - Nov 17, 2011 What is This? Downloaded from lec.sagepub.com at UNIV OF GUELPH on November 17, 2013 Review article The euro crisis Andrew Jones Local Economy Policy Unit, London South Bank University, UK Local Economy 26(6–7) 594–618 ! The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0269094211421748 lec.sagepub.com ´ ˜ Marco Buti, Servaas Deroose, Vıtor Gaspar and Joao Nogueira Martins (eds), The Euro: The First Decade, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2010; 1048pp: ISBN 978-9279098420, £95 (hbk); Roy H. Ginsberg, Demystifying The European Union: The Enduring Logic of Regional Integration (2nd edn), Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham, MD, 2010;...
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...Introduction The financial crisis of 2007–08, also known as the Global Financial Crisis and 2008 financial crisis, is considered by many economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It threatened the collapse of large financial institutions, which was prevented by the bailout of banks by national governments, but stock markets still dropped worldwide. In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. The crisis played a significant role in the failure of key businesses, declines in consumer wealth estimated in trillions of U.S. dollars, and a downturn in economic activity leading to the 2008–2012 global recession and contributing to the European sovereign-debt crisis. The active phase of the crisis, which manifested as a liquidity crisis, can be dated from August 9, 2007, when BNP Paribas terminated withdrawals from three hedge funds citing "a complete evaporation of liquidity". Many causes for the financial crisis have been suggested, with varying weight assigned by experts.The U.S. Senate's Levin–Coburn Report concluded that the crisis was the result of "high risk, complex financial products; undisclosed conflicts of interest; the failure of regulators, the credit rating agencies, and the market itself to rein in the excesses of Wall Street." The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission concluded that the financial crisis was avoidable and was caused by "widespread failures...
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...E SSAY COLLECT ION Crisis in the Eurozone Transatlantic Perspectives ESSAY COLLECTION Crisis in the Eurozone Transatlantic Perspectives This publication is a part of CFR’s International Institutions and Global Governance (IIGG) program and has been made possible by the generous support of the Robina Foundation. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Founded in 1921, CFR carries out its mission by maintaining a diverse membership, with special programs to promote interest and develop expertise in the next generation of foreign policy leaders; convening meetings at its headquarters in New York and in Washington, DC, and other cities where senior government officials, members of Congress, global leaders, and prominent thinkers come together with CFR members to discuss and debate major international issues; supporting a Studies Program that fosters independent research, enabling CFR scholars to produce articles, reports, and books and hold roundtables that analyze foreign policy issues and make concrete policy recommendations; publishing Foreign Affairs, the preeminent journal...
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...Secular Stagnation: Facts, Causes and Cures Edited by Coen Teulings and Richard Baldwin CEPR Press a A VoxEU.org Book Secular Stagnation: Facts, Causes, and Cures A VoxEU.org eBook Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Centre for Economic Policy Research 3rd Floor 77 Bastwick Street London, EC1V 3PZ UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7183 8801 Email: cepr@cepr.org Web: www.cepr.org ISBN: 978-1-907142-77-2 © CEPR Press, 2014 Secular Stagnation: Facts, Causes, and Cures A VoxEU.org eBook edited by Coen Teulings and Richard Baldwin CEPR Press abcde Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is a network of almost 900 research economists based mostly in European universities. The Centre’s goal is twofold: to promote world-class research, and to get the policy-relevant results into the hands of key decision-makers. CEPR’s guiding principle is ‘Research excellence with policy relevance’. A registered charity since it was founded in 1983, CEPR is independent of all public and private interest groups. It takes no institutional stand on economic policy matters and its core funding comes from its Institutional Members and sales of publications. Because it draws on such a large network of researchers, its output reflects a broad spectrum of individual viewpoints as well as perspectives drawn from civil society. CEPR research may include views on policy, but the Executive Committee of the Centre does not give prior...
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...IMF Intervention and Relevance Abstract In todays modernised global financial markets technological advancements have transformed the way investors, financial institutions, governments and central banks operate. This has brought about a crisis of confidence in the ability of any one body to provide high quality surveillance, supervision and crisis management. Countries are unwilling to borrow from the IMF due to the intrusive economic reform policy conditionalities. Cocktail mixes of tax increases, spending cuts and privatisation of public sector assets have proven difficult for local governments to serve. The funds inability to keep pace with an expanding global economy suggest redefining itself with a more modest role that is fitting for such an international monetary system may be the best approach, As opposed to expanding the funds activities. Table of contents 1. Introduction page 1 2. Objectives page 1 3. Rationale page 1 4. Literature review page 2 4.1 The Mandate page 2 4.2 Consequences of IMF Programme Implementation page 2 4.3 IMF Relevance page 6 5. Conclusion page 9 6. Reference 1. Introduction This...
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...cooperation. | Introduction World War I proved that the governance of international relations was insufficient. The League of Nations was then created in an ambitious attempt to construct a global order. However with the outbreak of World War II instability, debt, and death surged. This created pressure to establish institutions which could facilitate international cooperation. The United Nations, General Agreement on Tariff and Trade, and the Bretton Woods institutions were created in order to bring about stability in the international political economy. “Over a time these developed into a form of global governance.” Charles Kindleberger proposed the hegemonic stability theory. He stated the reason for the Great Depression and for World War I and II was the absence of a strong leader to coordinate macroeconomic policies needed for a stable financial system. Robert Gilpin adds, there must be world hegemony to ensure world order. The leader will advance its status quo by utilizing its power to foster trade liberalization and a stable monetary system, while seeking cooperation of other states and coerce reluctant states to obey the rules of liberal international economic order. Other states will seek the leader’s assistance for economic and security interest and the leader will protect these smaller states to maintain power. The international system experienced new phenomenon. After the end of the Cold War, America rose as world hegemony and promoted their self interest through...
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...heads of government of the European Union) and the European Central Bank (ECB). To the extent that the IMF is largely a technocratic institution (though of course not entirely immune from political in‡ uence) while ECOFIN and the EC are made up of politicians, one may expect the management of the crisis by the EC to be more a¤ected by electoral concerns. Furthermore, since there are 27 members to the EC, representing countries with potentially di¤erent interests, one may expect that bargaining and compromise will play a greater role than in cases where the two players are simply the Ardagna: Goldman Sachs; Peterborough Court 133 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2BB; silvia.ardagna@gs.com. Caselli: LSE, CFM, CEP, CEPR, and NBER; London School of Economics, Houghton Street, W2A 2AE, UK; f.caselli@lse.ac.uk. We bene…ted from insightful conversations with Wendy...
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