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Political Economy of the Greek Crisis

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  • Costas Lapavitsas

Abstract

The Greek turmoil commenced as a balance of payments, or “sudden stop,†crisis induced by large current account and primary government deficits. It became an economic and social disturbance of historic proportions. Its proximate cause was loss of competitiveness within the Eurozone due in large part to domestic German wage policies. The bailout policies, imposed by the lenders primarily for reasons of Eurozone stability and adopted by Greece, have had disastrous effects on both economy and society. The “historical bloc†that dominates Greek society willingly submitted to the bailout strategy, losing sovereignty, for reasons including fear and identity. JEL Classification: E66, F00, F02, F34

Suggested Citation

  • Costas Lapavitsas, 2019. "Political Economy of the Greek Crisis," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 31-51, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:51:y:2019:i:1:p:31-51
    DOI: 10.1177/0486613417730363
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    international monetary arrangements and institutions; economic and financial crises; European economies; political economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E66 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General Outlook and Conditions
    • F00 - International Economics - - General - - - General
    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems

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