Greek government-debt crisis

The Greek government-debt crisis happened after the financial crisis of 2007–08. In Greece it is known as The Crisis (Greek: Η Κρίση). It started with sudden reforms and austerity measures. But this made people poor and lose money and land.^[1][2]

The Greek economy is in the longest recession of any advanced capitalist economy to date. It is even longer than the US Great Depression. Many well-educated Greeks left the country.^[3]

A trade deficit means that a country is buying more than it produces, so it has to borrow from others.^[4] Both the Greek trade deficit and budget deficit rose from below 5% of GDP in 1999 to peak around 15% of GDP in the 2008–2009 periods.^[5] Greece was perceived as a higher credit risk alone than it was as a member of the Eurozone. Thus investors felt the EU would help out Greece.^[6]

Reports in 2009 of Greek government disorganization increased borrowing costs. Greece could no longer borrow to finance its trade and budget deficits at an affordable cost.^[4]

1. ↑ iefimerida.gr (20 July 2015). "BBC: Η Ελλάδα βιώνει ανθρωπιστική κρίση -Εννέα αποκαλυπτικά γραφήματα [εικόνες]".
2. ↑ Naftemporiki (26 March 2015). "Η Ελλάδα και η ανθρωπιστική κρίση".
3. ↑ Oxenford, Matthew; Chryssogelos, Angelos (16 August 2018). "Greel Bailout: IMF and Europeans Diverge on Lessons Learnt". Chatham House. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco – Research, Economic Research, Europe, Balance of Payments, European Periphery". Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
5. ↑ "FRED Graph". stlouisfed.org. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
6. ↑ Ezra Klein (July 2015). "Greece's debt crisis explained in charts and maps". Vox.