Greece During a Crisis. Evaluation or Actions Made by Government
Greece during a crisis. Evaluation or actions made by government.
Since late 2009, Greece has been submerged in a financial crisis unprecedented in its modern history. During this time, Greece has implemented structural adjustment policies of cutting social expenditures and raising taxes. This has been accompanied by a dramatic attempt to reform of Greece’s economic system in the image of neoliberalism through liberalization and deregulation measures. Additionally, Greece has embarked on a massive privatization plan of many state-owned companies. In May 2010, Greece was given a bailout worth 110 billion euro in loans from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF). This first bailout has kept Greece from defaulting on its loans; however, it became quite apparent in the last few months that Greece would need additional financial support to continue servicing its debt-payments. Recently, on July 21, 2011, the EU and IMF confirmed that Greece would be receiving a second bailout worth 109 billion euro (Council of the European Union 2011). The details of this plan are still being worked out. The combination of structural adjustment, privatization, liquidity injections, and the reform of Greece’s economic system have all been implemented with the hope of containing and ultimately solving Greece’s current financial crisis. Much of the mass media discussion surrounding Greece’s current financial crisis has centered on the notion of ‘containment’ so that Greece’s ‘disease’ does not spread to the rest of the highly-indebted and fiscally unstable peripheral eurozone countries of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain (PIIGS). Greece is viewed by the mass media as the cause and focal point in the European financial crisis; “the sick man of Europe” that needs to be cured (Malkoutzis 2011b). If Greece cannot be cured of its disease, then at least Greece’s disease needs to be contained so that it does not spread to the rest of the eurozone
Since late 2009, Greece has been submerged in a financial crisis unprecedented in its modern history. During this time, Greece has implemented structural adjustment policies of cutting social expenditures and raising taxes. This has been accompanied by a dramatic attempt to reform of Greece’s economic system in the image of neoliberalism through liberalization and deregulation measures. Additionally, Greece has embarked on a massive privatization plan of many state-owned companies. In May 2010, Greece was given a bailout worth 110 billion euro in loans from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF). This first bailout has kept Greece from defaulting on its loans; however, it became quite apparent in the last few months that Greece would need additional financial support to continue servicing its debt-payments. Recently, on July 21, 2011, the EU and IMF confirmed that Greece would be receiving a second bailout worth 109 billion euro (Council of the European Union 2011). The details of this plan are still being worked out. The combination of structural adjustment, privatization, liquidity injections, and the reform of Greece’s economic system have all been implemented with the hope of containing and ultimately solving Greece’s current financial crisis. Much of the mass media discussion surrounding Greece’s current financial crisis has centered on the notion of ‘containment’ so that Greece’s ‘disease’ does not spread to the rest of the highly-indebted and fiscally unstable peripheral eurozone countries of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain (PIIGS). Greece is viewed by the mass media as the cause and focal point in the European financial crisis; “the sick man of Europe” that needs to be cured (Malkoutzis 2011b). If Greece cannot be cured of its disease, then at least Greece’s disease needs to be contained so that it does not spread to the rest of the eurozone
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