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The European debt crisis: How did we get into this mess? How can we get out of it?

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  • Burda, Michael C.

Abstract

By any measure, the European Monetary Union and the European Union are in a deep hole. In the summer of 2011 we came uncomfortably close to an uncontrolled sovereign default of an EU country, a member of the European Monetary Union, hardly ten years after the common currency project was launched. In the months that followed, Greece was brought back from the precipice, but by the time of this writing has accumulated sovereign indebtedness of more than €380b or more than 170% of the country's gross domestic product. By current estimates, more than half of this debt is held by foreigners, and mostly by foreign official institutions. How could a country with less than 2% of EU output be the source of such great concern? Quite simply, because in the meantime Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy (which along with Greece, are known as the GIIPs countries, or the PIIGS in less politically correct circles) have all spent significant time at the financial edge, with borrowing costs rising enough to threaten the integrity of the Eurozone banking system, the mechanism of payments, the European Central Bank and the common currency itself. In my view, we are still not out of the hole, even though most recent events may belie that assessment.

Suggested Citation

  • Burda, Michael C., 2013. "The European debt crisis: How did we get into this mess? How can we get out of it?," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2013-019, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb649:sfb649dp2013-019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Burda, Michael & Wyplosz, Charles, 2017. "Macroeconomics: a European Text," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 7, number 9780198737513.
    2. Jeffry Frieden, 2012. "Global Economic Governance After the Crisis," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 13, pages 1-12, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Johnston, Alison & Regan, Aidan, 2014. "European integration and the incompatibility of national varieties of capitalism problems with institutional divergence in a monetary union," MPIfG Discussion Paper 14/15, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Poeschel, Friedrich, 2012. "Assortative matching through signals," VfS Annual Conference 2012 (Goettingen): New Approaches and Challenges for the Labor Market of the 21st Century 62061, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. ATHANASENAS Athanasios & POLYCHRONIDOU Persefoni & CHAPSA Xanthippi, 2021. "An Economic Crisis “State of Shock”: An Empirical Analysis of the Greek Economy," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Bucharest Economic Academy, issue 02, June.
    4. Alison Johnston & Aidan Regan, 2016. "European Monetary Integration and the Incompatibility of National Varieties of Capitalism," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 318-336, March.
    5. Xanthippi Chapsa & Nikolaos Tabakis & Athanasios L. Athanasenas, 2018. "Investigating the Catching-Up Hypothesis Using Panel Unit Root Tests: Evidence from the PIIGS," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 250-271.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    euro sovereign debt; NEURO; European integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System

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