The Greek Financial Crisis
The Greek Financial Crisis
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 state-owned corporations in a desperate effort to stabilize the currency and the economy. This paper will address the various actions taken to date by the Greek government to pull the country out of this terrible crisis, and will explore the specific factors that were causation for this horrible financial crisis. It is important to note that certain policies and government actions and their success is merely subject to personal opinion, but financial data and statistics is absolute and cannot be disputed regardless of personal or political beliefs. In May of 2010, Greece was awarded a 110 billion euro bailout from both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. This bailout was effective only in the sense that it prevented Greece from defaulting on country debts and loans, which would have had catastrophic ripple effects on not only the Greek and European markets, but on the global markets including the United States and Asian economies. Soon after this bailout was executed, it became evidently clear to both the EU and the IMF that more money would be needed in order for Greece’s survival and for their long road to economic recovery. With that being said, a second bailout worth 109 billion Euro was given to Greece again by
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 state-owned corporations in a desperate effort to stabilize the currency and the economy. This paper will address the various actions taken to date by the Greek government to pull the country out of this terrible crisis, and will explore the specific factors that were causation for this horrible financial crisis. It is important to note that certain policies and government actions and their success is merely subject to personal opinion, but financial data and statistics is absolute and cannot be disputed regardless of personal or political beliefs. In May of 2010, Greece was awarded a 110 billion euro bailout from both the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. This bailout was effective only in the sense that it prevented Greece from defaulting on country debts and loans, which would have had catastrophic ripple effects on not only the Greek and European markets, but on the global markets including the United States and Asian economies. Soon after this bailout was executed, it became evidently clear to both the EU and the IMF that more money would be needed in order for Greece’s survival and for their long road to economic recovery. With that being said, a second bailout worth 109 billion Euro was given to Greece again by