...European Debt Crisis Adelina Valencia Dr.Huang BUS 5200 April 27, 2013 European Debt Crisis On-line Mini Project The Eurozone debt crises all began when a newly elected government official took office in Greece in 2009. The prime minister announced that the deficit for Greece was 12.7% of GDP not 5% and said that the previous government had lied about this. This is what first started the European Debt Crisis. The government in Greece in May of 2010 announced that the budget deficit was much larger than what the previous government had predicted. Greece realized that they were not able to issue new debt to cover the new debt and its deficit. This is when the European debt crises all began and they requested help from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union and received a three year loan and 110 billion in euros. After two years, Greece still required assistance and the parliament approved another round of a second bailout of 130 billion euro’s. They deficit originally of 110 was actually not enough to cover their actual deficit and is why they had to ask for more help. The second year bail out required the private sector bond holders to take a reduction of the value of their bonds. The European central bank, European Union, and the International Monetary Funds stated that Greece had met the terms of the second bailout and Greece was running out of money. The Eurozone is a group of 17 members of the European Union. The European Union has over 27 members in the...
Words: 1197 - Pages: 5
... The Eurozone Debt Crisis Most of the people know how it feels to owe money, even if it is only to a mortgage company, or to a four-year college loan provider. But it is a different matter for an entire nation to be deeply buried in debt and unable to repay it. When a country drowns in debt, the government of that country usually seeks austerity as the major remedy of overcoming its debt crisis. Austerity promotes slow growth, and this actually makes the situation even worse due to the fact that world economy has become more open and integrated. In today’s world, there is no nation that exists in economic isolation. Every countries almost all the economic aspects- its education, health service, industries, service sectors, levels of income, and employment is integrated to the economies of its adjacent countries. This linkage plays a very important role in the global movement of goods and services, labor, investment funds, and technology. That is, when a country defaults on paying its debt, it not only affects the country in default, but also initiates a global economic crisis. In my research paper, I will tell the tale of eurozone debt crisis, which has created a global hysteria in the current world economy. In the research that follows, I will start with a brief history of the eurozone, how did eurozone face the debt crisis, and what might be ahead for the global economy, amid the ongoing European financial crisis. Eurozone is a term designated...
Words: 2564 - Pages: 11
...means = European crisis In early 2010 economic activities of the PIGS (a group of 4 nations in Europe namely Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) have come under increased scrutiny from the international investment community, with the threat of “Sovereign default” lurking around the corner. Sovereign default refers to a situation when government of particular country is unable to repay its debts. This situation of default payments by governments lead to European crisis. With onslaught of the recession and subsequent introduction of various financial stimulus packages, the government expenditure like public job creation, pensions, social benefits etc ..on various countries took on gargantuan proportions to support these packages. To support these packages government was forced to borrow heavily consequently generating high fiscal deficicts.Most countries had manageable fiscal deficit, the government of PIGS nations mopped up a huge debt bill. The state of affairs in Greece which was epicenter of the sovereign default malaise is shamboic as country was known to live beyond its means. Debt Skelton of PIGS [pic] Role over risk in EURO ZONE It is one element played a role in the crisis is “roll-over risk”. Countries involved are exposed to a fiscal crisis (the “bad equilibrium”) to the extent that they are forced to rely on the market to roll-over their debt. Thus, much depends on the amount of public debt coming...
Words: 1939 - Pages: 8
...EUROPEAN DEBT CRISIS – ORIGIN, CONSEQUENCES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS F RA N TI Š E K N E M E T H Abstract What is the European debt crisis? As the head of the Bank of England referred to it in October 2011, it is “the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, if not ever.”1 In fact, the European debt crisis is the shorthand term for the region’s struggle to pay the debts it has built up in recent decades. Five of the region’s countries – Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain – have, to varying degrees, failed to generate enough economic growth to make their ability to pay back bondholders the guarantee it’s intended to be. Although these five were seen as being the countries in immediate danger of a possible default, the crisis has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond their borders to the world as a whole. Introduction The global economy has experienced slow growth since the U.S. financial crisis of 2008-2009, which has exposed the unsustainable fiscal policies of countries in Europe and around the globe. Greece, which spent heartily for years and failed to undertake fiscal reforms, was one of the first to feel the pinch of weaker growth. When growth slows, so do tax revenues – making high budget deficits unsustainable. Greece's economy has struggled since the country joined the euro in 2001. In 2004, it admitted its budget deficit was higher than allowed under rules of entry. By 2008 the government had narrowly passed a belt-tightening budget...
Words: 2916 - Pages: 12
...This essay will talk about what is currently going in Europe with the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and the fiscal state the European Union is in, it is important and interesting because it is still current affairs and there are various factors and decisions that have helped the path that the crisis is going in, this essay will look at the crisis but on the implications and problems that European union face as well as what they have faced already and whether the European Central Bank are doing enough to improve the situation and what their plans are for the future. A sovereign bond serves as a floor for interest rates banks charged for loans and for the pricing of other financial contracts and securities. The global financial crisis led to the deterioration of government budgets and finances as nations utilized public expenditures to provide stability and stimulus. The Eurozone suffered because of heavy borrowing practices, property pebbles and living above their means. The Eurozone debt crisis started because Greece who had borrowed heavily in international capital markets over the past decade were turned against by investors this is because Greece in 2009 admitted that they had double the amount of debt that was allowed in the Eurozone limit. Ratings agencies started to downgrade Greek bank and government debt, and there was fear of Greece defaulting and not being able to pay back its debts but the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou insisted otherwise however this was...
Words: 2932 - Pages: 12
...EUROZONE CRISIS ABSTRACT Euro crisis was not fortunate. It was something that could be avoided if proper care was taken. The European sovereign debt crisis has emerged out of a situation that has made it difficult or impossible for some countries in the euro area to re-finance their government debt without the assistance of third party. It was not only the government sector that lead to this crisis but major cause of it was the private sectors taking up too much of loans. The report also states the impact of euro zone crisis on the world and the India. The Eurozone crisis is systemic in nature. It is a result of policy failures in the way European Monetary Union (EMU) was designed, constructed and implemented. In particular, the crisis is a consequence of the failure to put in place certain necessary institutional components. INTRODUCTION The global economy has experienced slow growth since the U.S. financial crisis of 2008-2009, which has exposed the unsustainable fiscal policies of countries in Europe and around the globe. Greece, which spent heartily for years and failed to undertake fiscal reforms, was one of the first to feel the pinch of weaker growth. When growth slows, so do tax revenues – making high budget deficits unsustainable. The result was that the new Prime Minister George Papandreou, in late 2009, was forced to announce that previous governments had failed to reveal the size of the nation’s deficits. In truth, Greece’s debts were so large that they actually...
Words: 3126 - Pages: 13
...contained to the big banks and investment firms based mostly in New York City. By the time bailouts were implemented by the United States government, the effects of the financial crisis were exported to Europe. States similar, but not limited to Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain (PIIGS) have each been in the media spotlight in recent years as attempts to rescue their respective financial markets are implemented. Unfortunately, many efforts made by Eurozone member states and other international actors have failed in alleviating the financial stresses of the region. Considering this, then, is there really a permanent solution that can not only relieve financial markets but also prevent the crises from spreading? To date, the European Unions’ collective response up to this point has been insufficient in order to curb the further slide into Europe’s second recession. I contend, then, that Europe and the Euro would greatly benefit from following many if not all of Germany’s internal budgetary constraints in order to fix the overall problem of debt and spending. One of original intentions of the euro when it was established in 1992 was to limit the amount of budget deficit a sovereign member state could have. Furthermore, the euro was designed to prevent a “bailout” should a state be unable to meet its debt obligations. Consequently, the euro indirectly served as a scare tactic for member states to “pay their bills” or face a default. However, as the credit boom of 2003 – 2007...
Words: 3864 - Pages: 16
...of the Euro Zone and the introduction of the Euro 2 3.0 Key Causes of the European Financial and Economic Crises 3 4.0 The Start and Progression of the European Debt Crisis 5 5.1 Greece 6 5.2 Portugal 6 5.3 Italy 7 5.4 Spain 7 5.5 Ireland 8 5.6 Iceland 9 5.0 Measures Taken (so far) to Combat the Debt Crisis (European Level) 10 6.7 European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). 10 6.8 European Financial Stabilization Mechanism (EFSM). 10 6.9 ECB interventions. 10 6.10 Brussels Agreement. 11 6.0 Implications of the European Debt Crisis: For the European Union 12 7.0 Implications of the European Debt Crisis: For the Global Economy 13 8.0 Implications of the European Debt Crisis: For Global Politics 14 9.0 Implications of the European Debt Crisis: For Pakistan 15 10.0 Implications of the European Debt Crisis: For the Welfare State 16 11.0 Solutions for the European Debt Crisis 16 12.11 Eurobonds. 16 12.12 Restructuring of Eurozone. 18 1.0 Overview: With a nominal GDP of $16,242 Billion in 2010 (20% of global GDP), the European monetary union is not only the world’s largest economic block, but also the foremost integrated economic and political association of nations in history. The economic crisis the Euro Zone currently faces is unique in all of its aspects. While, like all...
Words: 7079 - Pages: 29
...Executive Summary Introduction Eurozone debt crisis, which is also known as European Sovereign debt crisis is an on-going financial crisis that the countries within the Eurozone such as Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Spain varying a certain degree that faces struggles to repay or refinance their government debt without the assistance of third parties. This has caused much worries faced by the European Unions and hence to the above crisis, thus causing a great impact beyond the borders to the world as a whole. We will look into various roles undertaken by the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in helping to solve the euro zone Debt Crisis. European Central Bank (ECB) The ECB is one of the seven institutions of the European Union which was listed in the Treaty on European Union where it administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU members’ states where euro zone is consider one of the largest currency areas in the world. Founded in 1998, the central bank is one of the most important in the world with more than 500 billion euros in its reserves. Currently, the bank is based in Frankfurt, Germany and led by Jean-Claude Trichet. The primary function of ECB is basically to implement monetary policy for Euro zone, responsible for the care of foreign reserves of the European System of Central Banks, and to promote and conduct smooth operating of the financial markets and foreign exchange functions. In addition...
Words: 2049 - Pages: 9
...The European Debt Crisis In 2009, Greece came forward and announced that their financial management of their economy had gone awry. Greece's revealed their budget to be 12.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), in addition, its debt-to-GDP ratio at 120% was twice the limit allowed in the Maastricht treaty. This triggered what is now known as the European Debt Crisis, and led to similar announcements by Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain and most recently Cyprus. In the next pages we will attempt to explain the events leading up to the crisis and potential next steps for the European community. On February 7th, 1992 the 13 member nations of the European Council came together to sign the Maastricht Treaty. The treaty was designed to create financial stability throughout the Euro Zone by laying out fundamental fiscal policies for each country to follow. The treaty primarily encompasses four points: 1. Inflation rates: No more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of the three best performing (lowest inflation) member states of the European Union (EU). 2. Government finance: Annual government deficit: The ratio of the annual government deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) must not exceed 3% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Government debt: The ratio of gross government debt to GDP must not exceed 60% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. 3. Exchange rate: Applicant countries should have joined the exchange-rate mechanism (ERM II) under the...
Words: 1347 - Pages: 6
...Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 2 2. THE CRISIS ........................................................................................................................... 2 3. THE WAY TO THE CRISIS...................................................................................................... 3 4. HOW DOES THE CRISIS AFFECT THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM? .................................... 4 5. WHAT IF GREECE LEFT THE EURO ZONE? ........................................................................... 5 6. IF GREECE HAS RECEIVED BILLIONS IN BAILOUTS, WHY IS THERE STILL A CRISIS? ............. 6 7. CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................... 7 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 8 1|Page Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis 1. Introduction The economy of Greece is the 45th largest in the world with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $238 billion per annum. It is also the 51st largest in the world by purchasing power parity at $286 billion per annum. As of 2013, Greece is the thirteenth-largest economy in the 28-member European Union. Greece is classified as an advanced, high-income economy, and...
Words: 2375 - Pages: 10
...Background: As the consequence of the 2008 U.S. banking crisis, Europe was hit by one of the worst debt crisis. Starting from Greece in autumn 2009, the crisis spread to other European countries, especially Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal and forced European policy makers to take many actions to limit its consequences (BOG, 2014, p.42). While others European economies such as Spain, Portugal avoided the severe crisis by following advisory strategy like austerity, reducing public spending…, Greece situation did not improved. To help Greece improve its situation, the IMF and Eurozone governments sealed a deal for two bailouts in 2010 and 2012, totalling €240 billion. On July 5, 2015 the majority of Greek citizens voted to reject the Europe’s plan to bail out the country’s economy, which caused the fear about the potential exit from the European Union, Greece’s future and world economy as well. Despite that fact, Eurozone leaders still reached an agreement on a third bailout programme to save Greece from bankruptcy on July 13. Although Greece overcame the severe situation, there is no indicator that the crisis will stop. This essay will discuss Greek situation involving 3 main issues, which are mistakes leading to crisis, financial regulation and the role of banks, potential financial contagion and moral hazard. Discussion: 1. Mistakes leading to crisis: One of mistakes leading to crisis was supposed to involve economic statistical data fraud. According to a comprehensive...
Words: 2431 - Pages: 10
...Christopher Oladipo Global Finance Term Paper Topic: The Italian Financial Crisis: Causes, Actions and Reactions DECEMBER 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Causes I. Immediate causes II. Remote causes 3. Actions I. Governmental actions II. Regulatory actions III. European response 4. Reactions I. Local market reactions II. European market reactions III. Effects on US and world markets. 5. Conclusion 6. Bibliography 1. INTRODUCTION The Italian crisis that rocked the Euro zone at the beginning of this quarter was sudden, yet, not really sudden. There have been signs, but the leaders were unperturbed, so it was business as usual until the eventual breakout, like an epidemic, now threatening to consume not only Italy, but the Euro zone and by extension, the European Union.[1] The Greek economic debacle was one of the clearest signs that all was not well within the zone, but, of course, the general consensus was that Greek was too small to ignite any serious panic within the zone. If at all anything was going to happen, the general belief was that it will not affect the core of the European economy, and as such, to my understanding, not worth any preparation or broad based actions by the European Central Bank (ECB). But today, all of that has suddenly changed with the Italians taking their turn at the economic turntable. It is not clearly understood that even the mighty do sometimes fall. Italy is...
Words: 3651 - Pages: 15
...D December 1, 2012 International Crisis in Lending Lessons to be learned Group V Samantha Jeffrey Gabriella Stankovic Na-taisha Williams The debt crisis played a huge role in international lending. This report will discuss how economic crisis can result from many different factors such as changes in government policies which result in failure, and the cost of bank bailouts. Least developing countries also learned a lesson about how interest rates and low exports and imports played a major role in the financial crisis. These countries also tried to stabile their country's currency by fixing its exchange rate to that of the United States, which also resulted in failure. European countries also integrated their currency to Euro that caused a major crisis in lending. All are major factors that contributed to a crisis in international lending. Countries need to know what they are doing wrong before they can solve their problems. The historical events discuss will help serve as answer of how it can be resolved. Sovereign risk is the risk of lending money to the government with the risk of not being able to repay the obligation. There is always a risk in lending but the previous debt crisis and the crisis that is occurring in Europe plays a role in whether financial institutes want to lend to governments. The sovereign risk is important in international lending because many countries borrow money...
Words: 2761 - Pages: 12
...1. In Greece the banks didn’t sink the country. The country sank the banks. Discuss this view. Which are the main differences between the Greek crisis and the crisis of Ireland and Portugal? The main cause of the Greek crisis is the ongoing disclosure of statistics that were well hidden from the eyes of the public, leaving people in ignorance about their own country and the future. When the figures started to become revealed, breaking up the shocking news about the forgery that lasted for over 30 years, it left the world in wonder – how is it possible to disclose such a thing for so long, and how is it possible that such action remains unpunished? The problems caused by the global recession were compounded by revelations that national statistics had been altered in order to cover the fact that Greece, in terms of debt levels, exceeded limits set down by the EU. The country's debt is already well over 100 percent of GDP and is still rising. According to euro zone rules, total government debt should not exceed 60 percent of GDP. The country's budget deficit in 2009 was almost 13 percent of GDP, more than four times the 3 percent limit allowed in the euro zone. But beyond the debt there is more deficit. What Greeks did when they got all this borrowed money, they gave away incredible sums to citizens, raised the wages to such an extent that it created a serious budget deficit. Inefficient Government? Corrupted mentality? Call it as you like, but it caused consequences that citizens...
Words: 2957 - Pages: 12
