The Greek Debt Crisis: Likely Causes, Mechanics and Outcomes
Abstract
We use insights from the literature on currency crises to offer an analytical treatment of the crisis in the market for Greek government bonds. We argue that the crisis itself and its escalating nature are very likely to be the result of: (a) steady deterioration of Greek macroeconomic fundamentals over 2001-2009 to levels inconsistent with long-term EMU participation; and (b) a double shift in markets’ expectations, from a regime of credible commitment to future EMU participation under an implicit EMU/German guarantee of Greek fiscal liabilities, to a regime of non-credible EMU commitment without fiscal guarantees, respectively occurring in November 2009 and February/March 2010. We argue that the risk of contagion to other periphery EMU countries is significant; and that without extensive structural reforms the sustainability of the EMU is in question.Download Info
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Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number 3266.Length:
Date of creation: 2010
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3266
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Related research
Keywords: currency crises; bonds market; expectations; fiscal guarantees; contagion;Other versions of this item:
- Michael G. Arghyrou & John D. Tsoukalas, 2011. "The Greek Debt Crisis: Likely Causes, Mechanics and Outcomes," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 173-191, 02.
- Arghyrou, Michael G & Tsoukalas, John D., 2010. "The Greek Debt Crisis: Likely Causes, Mechanics and Outcomes," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2010/3, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
- F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
- F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
- F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
- F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
- F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
- F50 - International Economics - - International Relations and International Political Economy - - - General
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Arghyrou, Michael G & Tsoukalas, John D., 2010. "The Option Of Last Resort: A Two-Currency Emu," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2010/14, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
- Arghyrou, Michael G & Chortareas, Georgios, 2006.
"Current Account Imbalances and Real Exchange Rates in the Euro Area,"
Cardiff Economics Working Papers
E2006/23, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
- Michael G. Arghyrou & Georgios Chortareas, 2008. "Current Account Imbalances and Real Exchange Rates in the Euro Area," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 747-764, 09.
- Arghyrou, Michael G. & Gregoriou, Andros & Kontonikas, Alexandros, 2009.
"Do real interest rates converge? Evidence from the European union,"
Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money,
Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 447-460, July.
- Arghyrou, Michael G & Gregoriou, Andros & Kontonikas, Alexandros, 2007. "Do real interest rates converge? Evidence from the European Union," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2007/26, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
- Michael G. Arghyrou & Andros Gregoriou & Alexandros Kontonikas, 2007. "Do real interest rates converge? Evidence from the European Union," Working Papers 2007_21, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
- Michael Arghyrou, 2009.
"Monetary policy before and after the euro: evidence from Greece,"
Empirical Economics,
Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 621-643, June.
- Arghyrou, Michael G, 2006. "Monetary policy before and after the euro: Evidence from Greece," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2006/26, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- António Afonso & Michael G. Arghyrou & George Bagdatoglou & Alexandros Kontonikas, 2013.
"On the time-varying relationship between EMU sovereign spreads and their determinants,"
Working Papers
2013_05, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
- António Afonso, & Michael G. Arghyrou, & George Bagdatoglou, & Alexandros Kontonikas, 2013. "On the time-varying relationship between EMU sovereign spreads and their determinants," Working Papers 2013/05, Department of Economics at the School of Economics and Management (ISEG), Technical University of Lisbon..
- Ata Ozkaya, 2013. "Public Debt Stock Sustainability in Selected OECD Countries," Central Bank Review, Research and Monetary Policy Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, vol. 13(1), pages 31-49.
- Gerhard Glomm & Juergen Jung & Chung Tran, 2013.
"Fiscal Austerity Measures: Spending Cuts vs. Tax Increases,"
Working Papers
2013-01, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2013.
- Gerhard Glomm & Juergen Jung & Chung Tran, 2012. "Fiscal Austerity Measures: Spending Cuts vs. Tax Increases," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2012-594, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
- António Afonso & Michael G. Arghyrou & Alexandros Kontonikas, 2012.
"The determinants of sovereign bond yield spreads in the EMU,"
Working Papers
2012/36, Department of Economics at the School of Economics and Management (ISEG), Technical University of Lisbon..
- António Afonso & Michael G. Arghyrou & Alexandros Kontonikas, 2012. "The determinants of sovereign bond yield spreads in the EMU," Working Papers 2012_14, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
- Christian Fahrholz & Cezary Wójcik, 2012. "The Eurozone Needs Exit Rules," CESifo Working Paper Series 3845, CESifo Group Munich.
- Sebastian Dellepiane & Niamh Hardiman, 2012. "Fiscal Politics In Time: Pathways to Fiscal Consolidation, 1980-2012," Working Papers 201228, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
- Fredj Jawadi & Ricardo M. Sousa, 2012. "Consumption and Wealth in the US, the UK and the Euro Area:A Nonlinear Investigation," NIPE Working Papers 24/2012, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
- Dmitri Blueschke & Reinhard Neck, 2011. "“Core” and “Periphery” in a Monetary Union: A Macroeconomic Policy Game," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 334-346, August.
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