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Cyprus: from boom to bail-in
[The “greatest” carry trade ever? Understanding eurozone bank risks]

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  • Alexander Michaelides

Abstract

SummaryThis is a case study of how a country nearly reached bankruptcy in March 2013, within five years of entering the eurozone. The magnitude of the requested assistance is extremely large relative to GDP (100%) and studying this event provides useful lessons for avoiding such crises in the future. The crisis resulted from a worsening European economic environment (especially in Greece), bad choices with regards to public finances, weak corporate governance within the local banking sector, inadequate and/or difficult regulation of cross-border banking, worsening competitiveness, and bad political decisions at the European and, especially, the local (Cypriot) level. Local politics, reflected in short-term political calculations and/or inadequate understanding of the magnitude of the crisis, delayed corrective action for 18 months until election time, making a bad situation almost impossible to deal with. Overconfidence can be one behavioural explanation for why local politicians ignored the dramatic costs of inaction.— Alexander Michaelides

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Michaelides, 2014. "Cyprus: from boom to bail-in [The “greatest” carry trade ever? Understanding eurozone bank risks]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 29(80), pages 639-689.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ecpoli:v:29:y:2014:i:80:p:639-689.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1468-0327.12040
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    Cited by:

    1. Nick O'Donovan, 2021. "One‐off wealth taxes: theory and evidence," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3-4), pages 565-597, September.
    2. Stelios Markoulis & Panagiotis Ioannou & Spiros Martzoukos, 2023. "Bank distress in the European Union 2008–2015: A closer look at capital, size and revenue diversification," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 792-820, January.
    3. Martin Brown & Ioanna S. Evangelou & Helmut Stix, 2017. "Banking Crises, Bail-ins and Money Holdings," Working Papers 2017-2, Central Bank of Cyprus.
    4. Konstantinos Nikolopoulos & Konstantia Litsiou, 2019. "When the bank is closed, the cash is king; ... not!," Working Papers 19008, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    5. Gikas A. Hardouvelis & Ioannis Gkionis, 2016. "A Decade Long Economic Crisis: Cyprus versus Greece," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 10(2), pages 3-40, December.
    6. Andreou, Panayiotis C. & Anyfantaki, Sofia, 2021. "Financial literacy and its influence on internet banking behavior," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 658-674.
    7. Fornaro, Luca, 2019. "Monetary Union and Financial Integration," CEPR Discussion Papers 14216, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Philip R. Lane, 2019. "Macrofinancial Stability and the Euro," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 67(3), pages 424-442, September.
    9. Akyildirim, Erdinc & Corbet, Shaen & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Sensoy, Ahmet, 2020. "Regulatory changes and long-run relationships of the EMU sovereign debt markets: Implications for future policy framework," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    10. Luca Fornaro, 2022. "A Theory of Monetary Union and Financial Integration," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(4), pages 1911-1947.
    11. Daniel Haberly & Dariusz Wójcik, 2020. "The end of the great inversion: offshore national banks and the global financial crisis [European financial cross-border consolidation: at the crossroads in]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(6), pages 1263-1292.
    12. Nektarios A. Michail & Christos S. Savva, 2021. "Electricity consumption and economic activity in Cyprus using an asymmetric cointegration technique," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 15(2), pages 26-41, December.

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