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Saving imbalances and the euro area sovereign debt crisis

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Abstract

For several years prior to 2010, countries in the euro area periphery engaged in heavy borrowing from foreign private investors, allowing domestic spending to outpace incomes. Now these countries face debt crises reflecting a loss of investor confidence in the sustainability of their finances. The result has been an abrupt halt in private foreign lending to these economies. This study explains how the periphery countries became dependent on foreign borrowing and considers the challenges they face reigniting growth while adjusting to greatly reduced access to foreign capital.

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  • Matthew Higgins & Thomas Klitgaard, 2011. "Saving imbalances and the euro area sovereign debt crisis," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 17(Sept).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednci:y:2011:i:sept:n:v.17no.5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Orazio P. Attanasio & Guglielmo Weber, 2010. "Consumption and Saving: Models of Intertemporal Allocation and Their Implications for Public Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 693-751, September.
    2. Salvador Barrios & Sven Langedijk & Lucio Pench, 2010. "EU fiscal consolidation after the financial crisis. Lessons from past experiences," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 418, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
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    Cited by:

    1. Virginie Coudert & Cécile Couharde & Valérie Mignon, 2013. "On Currency Misalignments within the Euro Area," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 35-48, February.
    2. Matthew Higgins & Thomas Klitgaard, 2014. "The balance of payments crisis in the euro area periphery," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 20.
    3. Vasiliki Bazdekidu, 2015. "Trends on the Capital Market in Greece before and after the State Debt Crisis," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 66-89.
    4. Hungdah Su, 2013. "Is the Euro still a success story? An Asian interpretation of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 179-188, June.
    5. Eleonora Cutrini and Giorgio Galeazzi, 2014. "Contagion in the Euro crisis: capital flows and trade linkages," Working Papers 44-2014, Macerata University, Department of Studies on Economic Development (DiSSE), revised Nov 2014.
    6. Pessoa, Argentino, 2011. "The Euro Area sovereign debt crisis: Some implications of its systemic dimension," MPRA Paper 35328, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Fratianni, Michele & Giri, Federico, 2017. "The tale of two great crises," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 5-31.
    8. Pietro Alessandrini & Michele Fratianni & Andrew Hughes Hallett & Andrea Filippo Presbitero, 2012. "External imbalances and financial fragility in the euro area," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 66, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    9. Mr. Alexander D Klemm, 2013. "Growth Following Investment and Consumption-Driven Current Account Crises," IMF Working Papers 2013/217, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Yannis Psycharis & Dimitris Kallioras & Panagiotis Pantazis, 2014. "Economic crisis and regional resilience: detecting the ‘geographical footprint’ of economic crisis in Greece," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 121-141, June.
    11. Viktor Dinev, 2017. "“Macroeconomic Imbalances” Factor for the Euro Area Debt Crisis," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 3, pages 142-177.
    12. Pietro Alessandrini & Michele Fratianni & Andrew Hughes Hallett & Andrea Presbitero, 2014. "External Imbalances and Fiscal Fragility in the Euro Area," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 3-34, February.
    13. Strašek Sebastjan, 2017. "From Subprime and Eurozone Crisis with Full Speed into the Next Financial Crisis," Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, Sciendo, vol. 63(3), pages 3-11, September.
    14. Ryo Arawatari & Tetsuo Ono, 2023. "International coordination of debt rules with time‐inconsistent voters," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(1), pages 29-60, February.
    15. repec:bfr:bullbf:2013:195:03 is not listed on IDEAS

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