Eurosone debt crisis

Nemat Yaradan-Guliyev

Master's thesis

Abstract:

This thesis is about the Eurozone debt crisis – how it began, what were the solutions and lessons learned. The paper provides an in-depth analysis into Greece, Italy, and Ireland – chosen to reflect economies that are in the eurozone and have different economic and debt characteristics. The aim of the thesis is to explore through case studies how crisis began in each of the countries listed above, why it started, how they dealt with it and the post-crisis period. The main research questions are the following: 1. What were the main reasons of debt crisis in the chosen countries? 2. What were the mechanisms of solving the debt crisis in the chosen countries? 3. What are the prerequisites of future economic development in the chosen countries? The main findings of the thesis are that even though the global financial crisis of 2008 did play a role in triggering the Eurozone debt crisis, it did it through different ways for different countries. For example, in the countries that were already significantly indebted prior to the 2008 crash, like Greece and Italy, the global financial crisis was more of an exposer rather than a trigger, while on the other hand, in Ireland, the ’08 crash was the main trigger as it drastically reduced liquidity in the Irish banking system which caused property prices to fall and construction activity to halt.

Abstract:

This thesis is about the Eurozone debt crisis – how it began, what were the solutions and lessons learned. The paper provides an in-depth analysis into Greece, Italy, and Ireland – chosen to reflect economies that are in the eurozone and have different economic and debt characteristics. The aim of the thesis is to explore through case studies how crisis began in each of the countries listed above, why it started, how they dealt with it and the post-crisis period. The main research questions are the following: 1. What were the main reasons of debt crisis in the chosen countries? 2. What were the mechanisms of solving the debt crisis in the chosen countries? 3. What are the prerequisites of future economic development in the chosen countries? The main findings of the thesis are that even though the global financial crisis of 2008 did play a role in triggering the Eurozone debt crisis, it did it through different ways for different countries. For example, in the countries that were already significantly indebted prior to the 2008 crash, like Greece and Italy, the global financial crisis was more of an exposer rather than a trigger, while on the other hand, in Ireland, the ’08 crash was the main trigger as it drastically reduced liquidity in the Irish banking system which caused property prices to fall and construction activity to halt.

Keywords

Restructuring, Euro, Gross Domestic Product, Trade Balance, Budget Deficit, Debt-to-GDP, Cost of Funding, Interest Rate, Greece, Italy, Debt Sustainability, Ireland

Keywords

Debt Sustainability, Restructuring, Euro, Trade Balance, Budget Deficit, Debt-to-GDP, Cost of Funding, Gross Domestic Product, Interest Rate, Greece, Italy, Ireland

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 5. 8. 2021

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 15. 9. 2021
• Supervisor: Karel Brůna
• Reader: Kateřina Šímová

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze

Master programme:
Finance and Accounting