23 March 2017

Greece’s Debt Crisis Isn't Over—and It Could Still Bring Down Europe

Yiannis Baboulias

As the Greek economic crisis enters its seventh year, the difficulties standing in the way of its resolution continue to mount. At first glance, this is surprising. After all, Greece is a small country, representing just 2 percent of the European Union’s economy, and is home to just over 10 million of the bloc’s more than 500 million citizens. But it has played an outsize role in driving the political and economic uncertainty facing Europe today, and has in many ways taken the brunt of the fallout.

For Greece and Europe, nothing has been the same since 2008, when news emerged that the country’s budget deficit was many times what the government had been declaring for years. In 2010, it stood at 15 percent, triggering the first bailout deal between Greece and a troika of lenders: the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank. ...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It is inconceivable that anybody in their right mind would lend Greece money. Not little money, but big money, vast sums. With what will Greece pay back the loans? In olive oil? Grape leaves? What a joke! There never was and never will be any possibility to pay back. That money is lost.