The great economic crisis in Greece

A journey to discover the Greek economic crisis that started in 2008 and alarmed the world. Its causes and implications

Stefano Calicchio

• Publisher: Stefano Calicchio
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9791220278515
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Why did Greece enter an economic crisis in 2008? What caused one of the biggest economic crises the western world has ever had to face? What possibilities and hopes are left for Greek citizens?
The Greek economy has been in deep crisis since 2008, with serious consequences for its citizens. In a short time, the situation deteriorated so much that the country became a systemic risk for the global economy. As a result, the population experienced drastic interventions and heavy cuts in many sectors, including health, welfare and pensions.
On 19 August 2011, a leading member of the Greek government branded many of the previously decided austerity measures as unnecessary. In the meantime, the population has had to face unprecedented restrictive impositions, stifled by wage cuts and unsustainable tax increases.
In this short essay we will address the crisis in Greece from the bottom up, explaining what the causes of the crisis are and what consequences the population has had to suffer. We will study the reasons that caused the crisis in Greece and we will explain what initiatives other countries have used to remedy similar difficult situations and to look to the future again with more hope and serenity.

Greek Economy Pills

• Greece has a population of eleven million three hundred thousand inhabitants.
• The weight of the Greek economy in the Eurozone is to Italy as much as the weight of Italy is to the world economy.
• It was not until 1993 that the modern Greek economy experienced the first recession in its recent economic history.
• Greece experienced fifteen years of economic growth until 2008 - 2009, before the advent of the great debt crisis.
• Greece is one of the main gateways for immigration into the European Union.
• The public sector employs more than 40% of the employees in Greece and is one of the pillars of the Greek economy.
• Greece is one of the main investors in the Balkan area, with some EUR 2 billion invested in the state of Serbia.
• The Greek case is considered in the European Union as the borderline case for the spread of the great crisis throughout the eurozone.
• Life expectancy in Greece is among the highest in the world. 80.5 years for women and 75.3 for men.
• Political problems with neighbouring nations have created high costs in Greece for maintaining the army and supporting military expenditure.
• Greece has already faced tough economic crises in its past and this can help to develop solutions for the current crisis.
• Greece's GDP is about 180 billion euros a year.
• The Greek Gross Domestic Product is 33rd in the world, while the per capita income of Greek citizens is about $30,000 per year (30th income in the global ranking).

You may have already heard some of these figures on the news channels, but Greece is generally described as a weak economy and doomed to failure. In practice, Greece has shown for decades that it can create economic well-being and prosperity for its citizens, even with its own difficulties and peculiarities.

These Greek economic pills are actually an invitation for the reader to go deeper.

When the Greek crisis is discussed in the modern mainstream media, much information is implied or is superficial due to lack of space.

In this essay we will discover how several of the causes of the current economic crisis can be traced back to the Greek decision to open up to international markets and join the euro.

A decision on the one hand forced and on the other h...

Table of contents

• Cover
• THE GREAT ECONOMIC CRISIS IN GREECE
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Basic information about Greece
• Greek Economy Pills
• Once upon a time in rich Greece
• Greek pre-crisis timeline
• The causes of the crisis
• The unsustainability of Greek public debt
• Is the Greek default just around the corner?
• The consequences of a possible Greek default
• The austerity solution
• The effect of the measures taken
• The development of street protests
• Threats of secession from the Euro
• Similarities between the Greek crisis and the Argentine crisis
• The Icelandic solution
• Conclusion