Greece Lack of economic discipline Greece has been facing the problem of government debt for all the periods of its history since the beginning of 19th century. Economists gear this fact with some inherent features of Greek economy and Greek society such as costly and ineffective government, tax evasion and political clientelism, which is based on relations of patronage. Altogether these drawbacks manifested themselves against the background of the latest global financial crisis, having sharply raised the deficit of Greek government budget. On the eve of the Greek recession, the state authorities allocated large amounts of money to increase salaries, pensions and benefits in the public sector. These measures were designed predominantly to enlist the electoral support and maintain the relations with public sector labor unions. At the same time political clientelism fostered the growth in the number of tax evaders, as the government taxed only one-third of officially declared income omitting the extensive underground economy. No wonder, that in 2011 Greece shared 80th place in the Corruption Perceptions Index with such countries as Columbia and Salvador. Greek citizens are also associated with the notion of low “tax morale”. Not feeling a chance to make a contribution in how the government acts and without a trust, that fellow-citizens will pay taxes side-by-side with them, Greek people demonstrate poor rates of tax compliance. Greek government-debt crisis According to one of the Maastricht criteria, to join the Eurozone Greece had to reduce the rate of return on its government bonds. Generally, the fact, that single monetary policy is pursued in relation to Greece as well as to such economically reliable European powers as Germa... ... middle of paper ... ...x evasion is a criminal offence with up to 10 years of imprisonment. Providing the Eurozone governments with the prerogative of pursuing their own fiscal policies turned out to be fatal for both national economies and the Union in its entirety. Obviously, vulnerability of one of the Eurozone countries leads directly to the weakness of the whole currency union. Therefore, coherence of fiscal policies within the Eurozone is necessary. Speaking of the outcomes of the Great Recession regarding Spain and Greece, we should underline, that the crisis has demonstrated the fragility of both countries’ growth models after their changeover to the Euro. Similar scenario for Spain and Greece, which culminated in loss of economic competitiveness and rapidly increasing government debt, testifies to the fact that Spain and Euro have rather lost than won from joining the Eurozone.
•The Economists : print edition. (2014, April 12). Charlemenge: The laws of euro-nomics. Retrieved from The Economists: http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21600723-german-legalism-hampering-rational-crisis-management-laws-euro-nomics?zid=295&ah=0bca374e65f2354d553956ea65f756e0
The book we are discussing in this essay is called ‘The European Union: Economics, Policy and History’ by Susan Senior Nello. This book takes into account the different disciplines of economics, policy-making and therefore including a great deal of politics, and the history of the institution of the European Union as we know it today. The broad multi-disciplinary perspective makes this a comprehensive book that combines different aspects together making this particularly useful in the current debate about the future of the European Union. The main focus of the book are the policies of the European Union which is the authors’ speciality having worked on various projects for the European Institute in Florence and having advised the European Commission (McGraw – Hill). This book is a good introduction to the on-going debate concerning the progress and developments of the European Economic and Monetary Union. The author does not use a lot of technical terms and if she does they are explained which makes this book perfect as a study-book for students who want to enter this debate and want to be able to carefully structure their arguments. The authors’ main argument is question if the European Economic and Monetary Union is an optimal currency area. Robert A. Mundell is usually seen as the theorist behind the Optimum Currency Area theory. He defines an optimal currency area as “a domain within which exchange rates are fixed.” (177). Susan Senior Nello uses the Optimum Currency Area theory’s criteria whether the European Union is an optimal currency area and addresses what the advantages and disadvantages of being part of a Monetary Union are.
Following Greek’s “Dark Age,” the Archaic Age (circa 800-500 B.C.E.) led to important political changes for the region, with the most important one being the development of the city-state called a polis (plural poleis). While there were a number of developments during the Archaic Age, perhaps the most valuable lessons that can be drawn from Greek civilization and from the formation and evolution of the Greek poleis.
Tom Newton Dunn, ‘Go to the war on the Eurom Law’ The Sun, 7 February 2011accessed 29 March 2011 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3395471/David-Cameron-urged-to-go-to-war-over-Euro-law.html
on in the Greek society, poor and rich students all went to school and all men
"Europe must prevent Greece from becoming an out-and-out catastrophe and make sure that the same fiscal 'remedy' is not applied to other weak economies" -- Franziska Brantner.
The use of taxes is one of the government's favorite ways to make its presence known in the economy. While this method seems blatantly obvious, many of the ways the government uses the money collected by taxation is not. Some of the money it takes is used to fund other programs designed to "protect" consumers and to "create" jobs. Be...
Historically, financial crises have been followed by a wave of governments defaulting on their debt obligations. The global economic history has experienced sovereign debt crisis such as in Latin America during the 80s, in Russia at the end of the 90s and in Argentina in the beginning of the 00s. The European debt crisis is the most significant of its kind that the economic world was seen started from 2010. Financial crises tend to lead to, or exacerbate, sharp economic downturns, low government revenues, widening government deficits, and high levels of debt, pushing many governments into default. Greece is currently facing such a sovereign debt crisis and Europe’s most indebted country despite its surplus in the early 2000s. Greece accumulated high levels of debt during the decade before the crisis, when the capital markets were highly liquid. As the crisis has unfolded, and capital markets have become more illiquid, Greece may no longer be able to roll over its maturing debt obligations. Investment by both the private and the public sectors has ground to a halt. Public sector debt has increased substantially as the state had to rely on official assistance to payroll expenses, fiscal deficit and fund social payments.
The Greek economy has seen a large collapse following the recent worldwide recession. The European Union has expressed concerns for the impact that Greece’s economic collapse will negatively affect other member nations. Greece and the European Union are working to reduce the Greek deficit and to contain the economic crisis to Greece.
Greece." Journal Of Critical Studies In Business & Society 3.1 (2012): 12-39. Business Source Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the layout of taxation. I will differentiate the types of taxes and the roles that they serve currently. Subsequently, I will explain what equity, efficiency, effectiveness and transparency (EEET) are and show how they apply to taxation as a whole. Lastly, I will conclude how the EEET applies to the four tax types.
On the 25th of March 1821, the Greeks’ fight for independence from the Turks began. After about 8 long years of numerous battles, Greece was able to gain their independence in 1829. Their independence would not have been achievable without the help of their allies, who were mainly the French, Russia, and Great Britain. The philhellenes, or Greece-loving people, in those countries would rally support for Greece, and their revolution was a success because of their support. Greece would not have been able to attain their independence if not for the help of the various influential philhellenes in Great Britain.
As a result of those huge economic and social issues resulting from Eurozone crisis, finding a solution to the currency problem become an urgent as well as a crucial task of the member countries. In order to fix this problem, there were many different proposals submitted by all parties concerned. Policy implementations taken by the European Central Bank have had some powerful impacts on the economy of the union, and therefore the idea concerning a separation within the union has almost disappeared. However, to be able to find an effective and permanent solution it is needed to focus on long term fiscal and monetary policies.[1]
There are many debates concerning macroeconomic policies and how they can help prevent present and future economic issues. Over the years, the government has encountered major recessions such as the Great Depression in the 1930’s and in the 2000’s. Economists were able to help the economy grow by finding solutions to increase government spending and balancing government budget. These solutions helped fight recessions. In this essay, I will discuss the increased government spending to fight recessions and balanced government budget. I will discuss both the advocates’ and critics’ position. I will also state the position in which I support and defend that position.
The government use of taxes plays a crucial role in today’s economy as well as personal finances, it has and will continue to leave its mark on the world we live in.