Verified Document

Greece Economic Crisis Article Review

Greek Tragedy Das (2015) discusses the Greek economic crisis, and the hold it has over the public via the media, in the same terms that one would use to describe a classic of Greek theater. He outlines that the Greek financial crisis bears many similarities with the classic tragedies. Among these similarities are the morality element. Greek tragedy always contains a morality element, he argues, and so there are many moral elements to the economic crisis as well. First, the two players (the EU/Germany, and the Greeks) both contain elements of moral ambiguity so essential to good theatre. Whichever you choose as protagonist and whichever as antagonist, there are moral costs to their actions. The European side sees the Greeks as needing punishment for moral transgressions such as profligate spending and rampant tax evasion; the Greeks point to the hardships caused by the austerity policies imposed upon it by the EU (FIDH.org, 2014).

Das then outlines how his conflict leads to overture, following the narrative of classic tragedy. There has been an extension on the existing bailout of Greece, but the Greek government is starting to grow weary of austerity, and has little...

The author notes that the current wrangling over Greece's austerity and debt are more theater than anything else. He points out that Greece's debt is a lower percentage of GDP than some other EU nations, and that it pays a very low interest rate on its debt. Indeed, 45% of its debt comes from the European Financial Stability Fund, and carries a rate of 1.5% (Das, 2015). The issues that Das identifies as critical are capital flight, which is compromising the solvency of Greek banks, which in turn risks deepening the financial crisis. The capital flight, of course, is the result of the austerity measures that are crushing the Greek economy, and the fear that Greece will ultimately be turfed out of the Euro. Capital flight might also be a response to the deal that was made in Cyprus a few years ago that resulted in a net worth haircut for all Cypriot depositors. Greeks rightfully are squirreling their money in safer places.
The tragedy as described by Das is that none of this needs to happen, but the prevailing conditions in Greece are such that there is little way out, either for the Greek…

Sources used in this document:
References

Das, S. (2015). My big fat Greek crisis. EconoMonitor. In possession of the author.

FIDH.org (2014). Downgrading rights: The cost of austerity in Greece. Hellenic League for Human Rights. Retrieved April 5, 2015 from https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/grece646a2014.pdf
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Greece's Debt Crisis: Causes and
Words: 2671 Length: 9 Document Type: Essay

This flaw creates an incentive for firms to accumulate large sums of unpaid taxes over several years and then enter into negotiations with the tax authorities in order to remit small proportion of taxes. This flaw has been a constant feature of all tax reforms and thus makes the whole tax system less credible and more prone to abuse. Following the inadequate government intervention, it is clear that, in 2009,

Economic Issues Regarding Greece and
Words: 928 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

This will immediately decrease the funds of lending countries. And most importantly, this situation with the sovereign risk is not only characteristic to Greece, but to various other countries, including the United States. "More especially, the IMF is concerned that higher sovereign risk in countries like Greece can spill over to domestic banking systems and across borders, thereby triggering a second global economic crisis. It is also important to

Greece Economic Problems Analysis
Words: 1063 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Economic Environment The economic environment of Greece is that of a capitalist economy, but with significant public sector contribution – about 40% of total GDP is from government activity. This speaks more to the relatively small size of the Greek private sector than to excessive government ownership of industry. Tourism is one of the major drivers of the Greek economy, accounting for 18% of GDP (CIA World Factbook, 2017). Thus Greece

European Economic Crisis Greek Government
Words: 4697 Length: 15 Document Type: Term Paper

European Economic Crisis -- Greek Government This paper provides a deep insight into the European economic crisis and the events which eventually lead up to Greece debt crisis. It explains the causes which were responsible for the chaotic and poor financial situation currently prevalent in Europe. It also analyses the current tools used for stabilizing the situation in Greece and the shortcomings in them. It also highlights certain steps and measures

Irrational Exuberance: The Economic Crisis
Words: 2418 Length: 7 Document Type: Research Paper

As banks faltered and default rates rose, rates of consumption and demand plummeted. Unemployment began to increase, and in a predictable Keynesian fashion, as individuals grew more insecure about their job prospects they began to spend less money. The United States has a particularly consumer-driven economy -- Americans are known for having historically low rates of savings and to engage in high rates of spending -- so this was

Economic Globalization Has the 2008 Financial Meltdown
Words: 2832 Length: 11 Document Type: Essay

Economic Globalization Has the 2008 financial meltdown in the U.S. And the ongoing economic crisis in Europe have practically ended the era of economic globalization? Following the financial crisis that marred the U.S. economy along with other global economies as well as the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis, there have been projected concerns that this predicament would end economic globalization. The purpose of this paper is to assess this claim. Going by Immanuel

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now