Costas Simitis

The European Debt Crisis

The Greek Case

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

In this book, former Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis examines the European debt crisis with particular reference to the case of Greece. Greece was the first Eurozone country to face an enormous deficit, which reached 15% of GDP in 2009. As the Greek crisis unfolded, other Eurozone countries displayed identical symptoms, albeit in varying degrees of severity. From a strictly Greek predicament the debt crisis quickly turned into a problem for the European Union as a whole. This first English language translation investigates the causes of this spillover and chronicles the policy responses to combat it. It also discusses Greece's troubled political economy, the country's difficulties in adjusting to the demands of its creditors and the vehement social and political reactions to the policy of austerity. The central argument of the book is that the principal cause of the Eurozone's problems was, and still remains, the indecisiveness of European elites to tackle its underlying deficiencies. Leading Eurozone countries have been unwilling to commit to a common long-term plan which could deal convincingly with complex and inter-related problems affecting both its 'core' and its 'periphery'. The guiding principle of policy responses thus far has been the pursuit of permanent fiscal discipline. Yet, fiscal discipline alone would not provide the long-term solutions required; a steady course towards economic governance and political unification is necessary. Through his comprehensive and authoritative analysis, Simitis provides valuable insights into the crucial interconnection between Greece's own economic troubles and the wider European search for macroeconomic stability and sustainable economic growth. As such, the book appeals well beyond those with a narrow academic interest in Greece. This is very much a discussion about the future of the Eurozone and the European Union as a whole.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Manchester University Press
• Seitenzahl: 366
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. April 2014
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 240mm x 161mm x 24mm
• Gewicht: 715g
• ISBN-13: 9780719095795
• ISBN-10: 0719095794
• Artikelnr.: 40477930

Autorenporträt

Costas Simitis was the Prime Minister of Greece from 1996 to 2004

Inhaltsangabe

Preface Part I: How we arrived at this first Memorandum 1. Was Greece ready
for the Euro? 2. New Democracy's criminal indifference 3. PASOK's
opportunistic optimism 4. Being in denial 5. Ineffective solutions 6. The
bitter truth 7. The first Memorandum: a medicine with dangerous side
effects Part II: The Memorandum's first year of implementation 8. The
crisis spreads to the Union 9. Implementing the Memorandum: an obstacle
race 10. 'An all encompassing plan' to solve the crisis in the Eurozone?
11. 'An all encompassing plan' to solve the crisis in Greece? 12. A year of
the Memorandum: seeking a new solution Part III: Debt restructuring and
power games 13. Debt restructuring: The decisions of 21st July 14. A dead
end 15. More hitches 16. The new solution 17. Political games with
unpredictable consequences Part IV: Coalition government, psi, second
Memorandum 18. A flicker of hope 19. Conflicts at the highest European
level 20. The new agreement with the Eurozone (Memorandum II), the PSI 21.
An evaluation of the Memorandum(s) 22. Austerity and growth: implementing
the decisions of 21st February 2012 23. The crisis peaks Part V: Elections
May-June 2012 24. Elections of 6th May: Euro or drachma? 25. Cracks in the
Euro 26. The Union at a dead end: change of course on 29th June 27. The
elections of 17th June: a new beginning? 28. Provisional solutions. October
2012-June 2013 29. The evaluations of the assistance programme to Greece
30. Cyprus Part VI: The future of Greece and the European Union 31. The
causes of the crisis are not only economic 32. A new European policy is
necessary A. Economic governance B. Inclusion and participation Appendix:
Key meetings and decisions of the institutions of the European Union
relating to the financial crisis Note. The main Greek political parties
Figure 1: Net borrowing of Greek government and economy (% of GDP) Figure
2: Greece. Primary expenditure, expenditure, revenue 1988-2014
Abbreviations Index