ECONOMICS-I PROJECT

THE GREEK RECESSION FOR

CONSECUTIVE EIGHT YEARS: WHERE
DID THE GOVERNMENT GO WRONG?
COMPARING THE POLICY ADOPTED BY
GERMANY TO COMBAT THIS CRISIS

Submitted by:
Name: SREEJA PAL
2nd Year, Section B
ID No. : 216112
During Monsoon Semester 2017
INTRODUCTION:

The policy predicament of finding an optimum solution to tackling the almost-decade long
Greek recession in a monetary union as large and diverse as the Eurozone has gripped the
interests of economists worldwide. Many economists are of the view that the Greek economy
has almost reached the brink of financial collapse threatening to bring down the Eurozone
economy and the global economy as a consequence. While other economists with an optimistic
approach are of the opinion that the Greek economy is not doomed to collapse, most economists
are in consensus regarding the fact that regaining stability would be an involute policy matter
for Greece as well as the European Union.

This paper focuses on analyzing the causes and consequences of the various policy-decisions
adopted by the Government of Greece to combat the Greek financial crisis and compares
Greece’s situation with Germany’s successful implementation of its policy to combat
recession. Part I of the paper traces the Greek recession from its inception to the current
scenario. Part II of the paper discusses the role of the Greek government in causing and
reinforcing the sovereign debt crisis and the recession. In part III of the paper, Greece’s
situation is compared with that of Germany and deals with the policies adopted by Germany to
combat its financial crisis.

I. THE GREEK RECESSION: EIGHT CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF FINANCIAL

CRISIS:

Triggered by the impact of the Great Recession of 2008-2009, accentuated by structural

weaknesses in the Greek economy, and revelations that previous data on sovereign-debt levels
and deficits had been undercounted by the Greek government, the economy started reeling
under recession.

The economic crisis in Greece was exacerbated in April 2010 when the credit rating agency
Standard & Poor downgraded Greece's credit rating to “junk status” meaning it was not worthy
of investment.1 In May 2010, to avoid default, the International Monetary Fund and EU agreed

1
The Guardian, Standard & Poor's downgrade Greek credit rating to junk status, available at
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/apr/27/greece-credit-rating-downgraded (Last visited on September
2, 2017); BBC News, Greece's 'technocratic' government, available at : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
europe-15690289 (Last visited on September 2, 2017)

1|P a ge
to provide Greece with 110 billion euros ($146 billion) in loans over three years.2 Germany
provided the largest sum, about 22 billion euros, of the EU’s 80 billion euro portion. In
exchange, Prime Minister Papandreou committed to adopt austerity measures, including 30
billion euros in spending cuts and tax increases. To supplement this, the European Central Bank
(ECB) launched an unprecedented Securities Market Program that allowed the ECB to
purchase government bonds of struggling countries, like Greece, on the secondary market in
order to boost market confidence and prevent further sovereign debt contagion throughout the
Eurozone.3Amid public protest, in 2011, Prime Minister Papandreo had to step down. Lucas
Papademos took charge and imposed the second phase of austerity measures. 4 In 2012, the
finance ministers of the EU countries agreed to a second EU-IMF bailout for Greece, worth
130 billion euros ($172 billion). The deal included a 53.5 percent debt write-down—or
“haircut"—for private Greek bondholders in exchange of Greece’s promise to reduce its debt-
to-GDP ratio from 160 percent to 120.5 percent by 2020. 5To keep up this deal, Greece and its
private creditors undertook a complete debt restructuring, the largest such restructuring in the
history of Greece. Again, in 2013, Greece’s Parliament approved another round of unpopular
austerity measures, as an agreed condition of the ongoing EU-IMF bailout.6 The legislation
included layoffs of around twenty-five thousand public servants, as well as wage cuts, pension
cuts, tax reforms, and other budget cuts.

2
The New York Times, Greece Takes Its Bailout, but Doubts for the Region Persist, available at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/business/global/03drachma.html?pagewanted=all (Last visited on

September 7, 2017)

3
BBC News, Greece's 'technocratic' government, available at : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-
15690289 (Last visited on September 2, 2017)
4
Id.
5
Thomson Reuters, WRAPUP 10-Eurozone seals 2nd Greek bailout after tortuous talks, available at :
http://www.reuters.com/article/greece/wrapup-10-eurozone-seals-2nd-greek-bailout-after-tortuous-talks-
idUSL5E8DK0J620120221 (Last visited on September 2, 2017)
6
The New York Times, Greece Approves New Austerity Measures, available at :
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/world/europe/greece-approves-new-austerity-measures.html?_r=0 (Last
visited on September 10, 2017)

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In 2014, for a short stint, Greece returned to international financial markets with its first issue
of Eurobonds in four years, but its economy was far from coming out of the recession. 7 In 2015,
the left-wing, anti-austerity Syriza party won the snap elections and incoming Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras put forward new agenda of a renegotiation of bailout terms, debt cancellation,
and renewed public sector spending—setting up a showdown with international creditors that
threatened Greek default and potential exit from the monetary union. 8Unfortunately, in June
2015, the Greek government missed its 1.6 billion euro payment to the IMF, making it the first
developed country to effectively default to the Fund.9 Even after the change in government, the
governmental policies continued to revolve around Austerity measures. The Greek parliament
adopts a suite of economic reforms as part of a new rescue package from the EU, the country’s
third since 2010 but demanded far stricter austerity measures. 10

In 2017, to forestall a crisis that could put the 86 billion euro program in jeopardy, EU
representatives have agreed to more lenient budget targets, but they have declined to consider
any debt relief. 11 Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tsipras agreed to implement deeper tax and
pension reforms even as he faces domestic pressure over a weakening economy and rising
poverty, in turn , the crisis continues to worsen, reaching an almost 8 year long impasse.

II. THE ROLE OF THE GREEK GOVERNMENT IN CAUSING AND

REINFORCING THE RECESSION:

The financial crisis of Greece has its roots in not just the Great recession of 2008-2009, but it
can be traced from the time of Greece’s joining of the European. Since the creation of the

7
The Guardian, Greek bond sale hailed a success after raising €3bn, available at :
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/apr/10/greece-raises-3bn-euro-successful-bond-sale (Last visited
on September 9, 2017)
8
Financial Times, Syriza win throws down challenge to Europe, available at :
https://www.ft.com/content/9610da8a-a496-11e4-8959-00144feab7de (Last visited on September 4, 2017)
9
CNN Money, Greece defaults on $1.7 billion IMF payment, available at :
http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/30/news/economy/greece-imf-default/ (Last visited on September 2, 2017)
10
Financial Times, Eurozone approves €86bn Greek bailout, available at :
https://www.ft.com/content/b01103d4-42bf-11e5-9abe-5b335da3a90e, (Last visited on September 3, 2017)
11
Thomson Reuters, After seven years of bailouts, Greeks sink yet deeper in poverty ,
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-poverty/after-seven-years-of-bailouts-greeks-sink-yet-
deeper-in-poverty-idUSKBN15Z1NM, (Last visited on September 1, 2017)

3|P a ge
European Union in 1992 and the subsequent launch of the euro, Greece’s chronic fiscal
mismanagement and resulting debt crisis has repeatedly threatened the stability of the country.
Initially, in 1999 when the Euro was introduced, Greece was unable to adopt the euro because
it fails to meet the fiscal criteria—inflation below 1.5 percent, a budget deficit below 3 percent,
and a debt-to-GDP ratio below 60 percent—outlined by Maastricht. Refusing to be left out of
the Eurozone, Greece misrepresented its finances to join the Eurozone, with a budget deficit
well over 3 percent and a debt level above 100 percent of GDP. The truth was later revealed
that U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs had helped Greece conceal part of its debt in 2001
through complex credit-swap transactions.

The Eurozone had a single monetary policy which regulated the monetary policy for all the
Eurozone countries, while the fiscal policies continued to be formulated by the respective
member-countries themselves. Thus, with the adoption of the Euro, Greece had access to cheap
credit which allowed Greece to increase its expenditure to previously impossible levels. It
embarked upon huge deficit spending programmes such as more public sector jobs and
generous state benefits. In 2004, Greece hosted the 2004 summer Olympic Games, which cost
the country in excess of 9 billion euros ($11.6 billion). The resultant public borrowing
contributed to a rising deficit (6.1 percent) and debt-to-GDP ratio (110.6 percent) for 2004.12
Moreover, the government had repeatedly falsified data regarding its financial position at the
time of borrowing credit from various stakeholders. Within weeks of winning the elections in
2009, the new Prime Minister Papandreou discovered that Greece’s budget deficit were nearly
13
double the original estimates. Therefore, when recession hit, the flawed data made it
impossible to predict GDP growth, deficit and debt. According to scholars, the fundamental
cause of the recession was the inability to address the long-term structural problems in the
public sector expenditure of Greece. Also, the unaccountability of the state institutions led the
public sector to great economic wastefulness. In the hope of garnering votes, the parties in
power indulged in state benefits far greater than what the state treasury could sustain.

12
The Economist, Three Years to save the Euro, available at
http://www.economist.com/node/15908513/comments (Last visited on September 4, 2017) ; Council on Foreign
Relation , Greece’s Debt : 1974-2017, available at https://www.cfr.org/timeline/greeces-debt-crisis-timeline
(Last visited on September 1, 2017)
13
Id.

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While the fiscal policy concentrated on generous expenditure, it gave little attention to the
collection of revenue. 14 In the public sector industries, a disproportionate increase in production
costs relative to productivity caused a reduction of the Greek economy. The economy thus
tended to heavily depend upon tax revenues and credit-borrowings. However, the government’s
failure in imposing strict tax collection mechanisms aggravated the fiscal deficit of the country.
Greece has also been repeatedly accused of large scale corruption related to largely tax evasion.
Whatever means of revenue collection was left with the government, the government decided
to privatise those public sector units of employment.

The policy of austerity adopted by the Greek government to combat the recession, further
reinforced it. The austerity measures included severe cuts on social welfare programmes such
as cut in education and health sector spending. Therefore, the middle and the lower class of the
citizens were most adversely affected, since they are the ones largely dependent on these social
welfare schemes. While these were taken away, the government taxed them at higher rates to
bail-out rich financial stakeholders such as banks.

The whether austerity measures can bring a country out of recession depends on the economic
status of the country. Austerity is generally considered necessary when a government exceeds
its budget, reels under heavy sovereign debt and subsequently is in need to cut back spending
to restore its balance sheet and economic confidence among investors. According to Sir Charles
Bean, economics professor at the London School of Economics and former chief economist at
the Bank of England, “Continuing to run a large deficit in such circumstances risks finding it
difficult or impossible to finance that deficit, requiring an even sharper fiscal contraction.”15
The government had increased its state benefits to such levels that sudden austerity measures
were bound to be met with public resentment. The government failed to appreciate the fact that
austerity in itself does not automatically balance the country’s budget. The austerity measures
had increased unemployment on one hand and had on the other hand increased taxes. As a
result, the people did not have the means to pay the increased taxes. The taxes were increased
to facilitate the government to pay back its debt. However, when everyone, including the

14
BBC News, Did Greeks fail to pay 89.5% of taxes?, available at http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-
33479946, (Last visited on September 3, 2017)
15
Whorton, University of Pennsylvania, Does Austerity Work? Or Does It Make Things Worse?, available at
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/does-austerity-work-or-does-it-make-things-worse/ (Last visited on
August 20, 2017) ;

Calcagno, Alfredo. "Can austerity work?." Review of Keynesian Economics(2012).

5|P a ge
government, is paying down debt and no one is spending money, a deflationary spiral can occur
and then the economy will collapse, as had been warned by Japanese economist Koo 16. Other
economist have opined that Greece had fallen victim to a vicious circle of austerity induced
recession and recession-induced fiscal derailment.17 Nobel Laureates Paul Krugman and
Joseph Stiglitz, have argued that austerity suppresses demand and investment, negating the
benefits of fiscal consolidation. Even if the benefits of the austerity measures could be accrued,
a failure of communication to the citizens of the need for austerity and the urgency of the
situation coupled with a failure of co-ordination among and within political parties, which
appeared uninterested in abandoning party tactics even when the country was at the brink of
collapse, Greek policies time and again failed to keep the recession in check. Moreover, the
changing governments and their change in approaches resulted in a failed negotiation with the
Eurozone partners for a fiscal consolidation programme that was more feasible, less harsh,
more constructive and growth-oriented led the country if unprecedented sovereign debt crisis. 18

Another point of fallacious Greek governmental policy is the fact that, even when the economy
was highly in need of major structural reforms, the austerity measures did not include much
significant reduction in the military budget of Greece. Greece being a relatively small and
democratic country with not much in the way of global ambitions allots a perplexing amount
of government revenue to its military budget. Things have not changed much since the time in
2006, when Greece was the third biggest arms importer after China and India. Its military
budget amounts to around 4% of GDP.19 Had Greece adopted a structural reform of its defence
budget, it would have spared other state benefits to some extent from severe austerity cuts.
Moreover, instead of spending on arms, if the government had utilised the amount on cash
transfer schemes or otherwise, it would have circulated within the market, giving at least some
boost to the economy

16
Id.
17
Monastiriotis, Vassilis, et al. "Austerity measures in crisis countries—results and impact on mid-term
development." Intereconomics 48.1 (2013): 4-32.
18
Id.
19
The Guardian, Greece's austerity doesn't extend to its arms budget, available at
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/21/greece-austerity-measures-military-spending (Last
visited on August 18, 2017)

6|P a ge
 III. COMPARING GREECE’S POLICY WITH THAT ADOPTED BY GERMANY
TO COMBAT ITS RECESSION

Due to the worldwide economic downturn in 2008, European governments were forced to bail
out their banks which held a lot of these assets on their books. These bailouts combined with
existing high levels of government debt throughout Europe sparked doubt among investors as
to whether European governments could successfully refinance their debt loads which
ultimately led to the European sovereign debt crisis. German banks being amongst the largest
creditors, Germany could not escape the adverse effects of this crisis. However, unlike Greece,
the fiscal policies adopted by Germany not only helped it stabilize its economy post-recession,
but had transformed it from the “sick-man of Europe” to the most robust economy in Europe.
At a time when worldwide economy was in crisis, Germany had carved out an almost uniquely
stable economy, striking a balance between bailout and guarantee packages for the financial
industry.20

The restabilising of Germany’s economy has multiple facets to its economic policy. One of the
major differences in the fiscal policies of Greece and Germany lie in the different approaches
to austerity measures adopted by the two countries. While Greece adopted the policy of strict
austerity, Germany chose a mid-way between classical austerity and Keynesian Stimulus,
which included the constitutional reform in government borrowing rules, adoption of Stimulus
packages and the labour policy of Kurzarbeit.

Germany’s policy of austerity was a long term economic policy planned over a period of time
much before the great recession of 2008 hit. Germany had always been sceptical of sovereign
debt and followed a strict approach towards generous amount of state funded social welfare
benefits. It also had strict labour laws which made firing of employees very difficult. However,
these policies seemed to have paid off during the period of great recession.

Kurzarbeit was Germany’s effective utilisation of its human capital amid the forecasts for an
unemployment surge, setting an example for other developed economies. 21 It was the
government's short-time work scheme that held on to secure several skilled jobs at the time
when most private employers without state support would have had to lay off employees.

20
Funk, Lothar. The German Economy during the Financial and Economic Crisis since 2008/2009: An
Unexpected Success Story Revisited. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2012.
21
Kurzarbeit - A German Achievement, available at http://www.rttnews.com/1296996/kurzarbeit-a-german-
achievement.aspx (Last visited on August12, 2017)

7|P a ge
Kurzarbeit permitted employers to reduce wage cost and working hours by up to 50 percent,
with employees receiving between 60 and 67 percent of their net foregone wage from the
German Federal Employment Agency. 22 The scheme not only part funded the wages, it also
took care of the ancillary benefits received by an employee- his/her social contributions such
as pensions, health care, long-time care, jobless benefits were fully met by the Federal
Employment Agency. 23 Employers, under this scheme, were also eligible to receive taxation
benefits in addition to these. Germany had devised this scheme before the financial crisis, so
that companies could access subsidised short time working for 6 months. 24 But when crisis hit,
the government decided to extend the scheme to up to 24 months, which was later again
extended. 25 This allowed them to retain skilled and experienced workers instead of facing the
cost of immediate dismissals and the potential for additional future costs of hiring and training
new personnel if demand increases and they decide to expand operations back to previous
levels. 26 This future plan took into consideration not only the already skilled labour but also
potential ones. Therefore, during the idle hours, an unemployed person was given the
opportunity to undergo training and skill development, costs of which are borne by the federal
agency. Such training and development were expected to come in handy at times of booming
business. Kurzarbeit, being part of the stimulus package, had taken a heavy toll on the
government treasury, but closer analysis show that the cost of Kurzarbeit was lower than cost
of supporting the unemployed.

Kurzarbeit was only a part of the larger policy of providing ‘Stimulus Package’. Germany,
well-known among economists for its apprehension of sovereign debt and extensive
government spending was among the last in the G-20 to adopt a stimulus package. However,
the German stimulus measures were in fact one of the most extensive efforts in Europe. 27

22
What is Kurzarbeit?, available at https://www.ezonomics.com/whatis/kurzarbeit/ (Last visited on 16 August,
2017)
23
Kurzarbeit - A German Achievement, available at http://www.rttnews.com/1296996/kurzarbeit-a-german-
achievement.aspx (Last visited on August12, 2017)
24
Id.
25
Id.
26
Contessi, Silvio, and Li Li. "Translating Kurzarbeit." Economic Synopses2013.2013-06-14 (2013).
27
Mark Vail, Keynesianism By Stealth And Symbolic Austerity: German Fiscal Policy And The Post-2007
Economic Crisis, available at http://crookedtimber.org/2011/01/19/keynesianism-by-stealth-and-symbolic-
austerity-german-fiscal-policy-and-the-post-2007-economic-crisis/ (Last visited on August 16, 2017)

8|P a ge
The objective behind the Keynesian theory of stimulus package is to provide tax rebates and
boost spending, as spending increases demand, which leads to an increase in employment rate
which in turn increases income and hence stimulates spending. 28 This continues in a cyclical
manner until the economy recovers from collapse. 29 Two economic stimulus packages with the
total amount of € 82 bn. were parliamentary approved in three phases. Stimulus packages were
directed towards infrastructure projects, new investments and a quite popular car-scrap bonus
program. These measures softened the economic downturn noticeably. The future-oriented
nature of these investments ensured that the taxpayers’ money did not get wasted. The variety
of programmes which were catered to by the stimulus programme very diverse ranging from
Investments into transport infrastructure, Innovation support programme , Premium for new
car purchases to Increased child benefits. The premium for new car was conditional on buying
an energy-efficient car and selling an old car for demolition. These were an inclusive package
with investment-directed measures, as well as consumption directed measures. 30 The stimulus
package also included tax cuts in certain sectors. The bulk of the package consisted of tax cuts
for firms, a cut in payroll taxes, and a small cut in personal income tax for the poor and increases
in tax thresholds. 31
Though fiscal policy was leading Germany towards stabilization, mounting fears of a pan
Europe sovereign debt crisis, led Germany to undertake an austerity program that pledged to
cut euro 80 billion from the budget by 2014. It proposed small cuts to pension contributions
for the poor and cuts in heating subsidies and child benefits for some welfare recipients. In
addition, it unveiled a €100 billion fund to underwrite fresh credit to companies, which are
being starved of new loans by banks. 32
Meanwhile, Germany’s constitutional rule on federal indebtedness, known as the “debt brake”
– and part of the 2009 reforms to Germany’s federal structure , replaced the “golden rule” that
was applicable until 2010 by a constitutional amendment. One of the reasons which prompted

28
The Economic Time , Definition of Stimulus, available at
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/stimulus-package, (Last visited on September 4, 2017)
29
Id.
30
Id.
31
The Guardian, Germany approves €50bn stimulus package, available at
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/27/germany-europe, (Last visited on September 4, 2017)
32
The Economist, Germany's stimulus package, http://www.economist.com/node/12923487 (Last visited on
September 9, 2017)

9|P a ge
this reform was the European Union’s European Stability and Growth Pact under which, the
EU countries were to keep their debt-to-GDP ratio within a permissible limit on government
deficit (3% of GDP) and debt (60% of GDP); and in case of having a debt level above 60% it
33
should each year decline with a satisfactory pace towards a level below. As per official
records, Germany’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 72.4% in 2009 if the Maastricht definition is
applied. 34 Also, the stimulus packages had brought about demographic changes and associated
spending on social security. It meant that there was a high level of additional implicit national
debt, so to ensure that public finances are sustainable in the long term, the debt-to-GDP ratio
had to be reduced on a long-term basis. 35 Germany’s austerity measures called for a cull of
10,000 state jobs, a major reduction in the size of the German military, the scaling back of
jobless benefits, and tax hikes on financial transactions, electricity, and airline tickets.

III. COMPARING GREECE’S POLICY WITH THAT ADOPTED BY GERMANY

TO COMBAT ITS RECESSION

In sharp contrast with Germany’s labour policy of Kurzarbeit, Greece adopted the policy of
large-scale employee lay-offs, substantially large amounts of salary-cuts, reduced state benefits
and increased tax rates, leaving no room for the unemployed to sustain themselves during the
great recession. Germany’s labour policy may be seen as temporary nationalization of the
employment sector, while Greece opted for large-scale privatization of its public sector
production units, shifting the burden of unemployment from the government to the private
owners.
One of the major differences in policy making lay in Greece’s decision to stick to austerity
measures while Germany adopted a flexible combination of Keynesian stimulus and austerity.
This difference enabled Germany to recover its market first, which in turn took care of the debt
repayment. But Greece could only concentrate on cutting government spending which further
had negative impact on employment and the market demand and supply.
Greece, has not been able to adopt any landmark reform in its borrowing policy. It has been
struggling to adapt to the changing demands of the creditors, which in turn have led it to take

33
Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany’s Federal Debt Brake, available at
http://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/EN/Standardartikel/Topics/Fiscal_policy/Articles/2015-12-09-
german-federal-debt-brake.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=6(Last visited on September 4, 2017)
34
Id.
35
Id.

10 | P a g e
fresh loans to pay off old ones. Had Greece effectively utilised the fresh loans to boost market
instead of transferring the money from one creditor to another it could have done better.
In the tax front, Germany performed better because it reduced taxes for the middle and lower
classes but ensured proper collection of those. On the other hand, Greece hiked its taxes on all
classes of citizens but failed to collect tax based revenue due to unbridled corruption.
Another important factor was that, Germany encouraged public and private sector investment
in various kinds of production and infrastructure within the country, while Greek citizens
became wary of their meagre savings and started investing their money outside the country,
thereby leaving the economy worse off.

Conclusion:
In today’s world of global economy, no country could escape the adverse effects of the great
recession of 2008-2009. However, the way the countries devised policies to deal with the
situation

11 | P a g e
 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

News Articles:

 The Guardian, Standard & Poor's downgrade Greek credit rating to junk status,
available at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/apr/27/greece-credit-rating-
downgraded (Last visited on September 2, 2017)

 BBC News, Greece's 'technocratic' government, available at :

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15690289 (Last visited on September 2,
2017)

 The New York Times, Greece Takes Its Bailout, but Doubts for the Region Persist,
available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/business/global/03drachma.html?pagewanted=al
l (Last visited on September 7, 2017)

 Thomson Reuters, WRAPUP 10-Eurozone seals 2nd Greek bailout after tortuous
talks, available at : http://www.reuters.com/article/greece/wrapup-10-eurozone-seals-
2nd-greek-bailout-after-tortuous-talks-idUSL5E8DK0J620120221 (Last visited on
September 2, 2017)

 The New York Times, Greece Approves New Austerity Measures, available at :
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/world/europe/greece-approves-new-austerity-
measures.html?_r=0 (Last visited on September 10, 2017)

 The Guardian, Greek bond sale hailed a success after raising €3bn, available at :
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/apr/10/greece-raises-3bn-euro-
successful-bond-sale (Last visited on September 9, 2017)

 Financial Times, Syriza win throws down challenge to Europe, available at :

https://www.ft.com/content/9610da8a-a496-11e4-8959-00144feab7de (Last visited on
September 4, 2017)

 CNN Money, Greece defaults on $1.7 billion IMF payment, available at :

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/30/news/economy/greece-imf-default/ (Last visited on
September 2, 2017)

 Financial Times, Eurozone approves €86bn Greek bailout, available at :

https://www.ft.com/content/b01103d4-42bf-11e5-9abe-5b335da3a90e, (Last visited
on September 3, 2017)

12 | P a g e
  Thomson Reuters, After seven years of bailouts, Greeks sink yet deeper in poverty ,
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-poverty/after-seven-years-of-
bailouts-greeks-sink-yet-deeper-in-poverty-idUSKBN15Z1NM, (Last visited on
September 1, 2017)

 The Economist, Three Years to save the Euro, available at

http://www.economist.com/node/15908513/comments (Last visited on September 4,
2017) ; Council on Foreign Relation , Greece’s Debt : 1974-2017, available at
https://www.cfr.org/timeline/greeces-debt-crisis-timeline (Last visited on September
1, 2017)

 The Guardian, Greece's austerity doesn't extend to its arms budget, available at
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/21/greece-austerity-measures-
military-spending (Last visited on August 18, 2017)

 The Guardian, Germany approves €50bn stimulus package, available at

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/27/germany-europe, (Last visited on
September 4, 2017)

 The Economist, Germany's stimulus package,

http://www.economist.com/node/12923487 (Last visited on September 9, 2017)

Journal Articles:

 Calcagno, Alfredo. "Can austerity work?." Review of Keynesian Economics (2012).

 Contessi, Silvio, and Li Li. "Translating Kurzarbeit." Economic Synopses2013.2013-

06-14 (2013).

 Funk, Lothar. The German Economy during the Financial and Economic Crisis since
2008/2009: An Unexpected Success Story Revisited. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2012.

 Monastiriotis, Vassilis, et al. "Austerity measures in crisis countries—results and

impact on mid-term development." Inter-economics 48.1 (2013): 4-32.

Online Articles:

 Whorton, University of Pennsylvania, Does Austerity Work? Or Does It Make Things

Worse?, available at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/does-austerity-work-
or-does-it-make-things-worse/ (Last visited on August 20, 2017) ;

 Kurzarbeit - A German Achievement, available at

http://www.rttnews.com/1296996/kurzarbeit-a-german-achievement.aspx (Last
visited on August12, 2017)

 What is Kurzarbeit?, available at https://www.ezonomics.com/whatis/kurzarbeit/

(Last visited on 16 August, 2017)

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  Mark Vail, Keynesianism By Stealth And Symbolic Austerity: German Fiscal Policy
And The Post-2007 Economic Crisis, available at
http://crookedtimber.org/2011/01/19/keynesianism-by-stealth-and-symbolic-austerity-
german-fiscal-policy-and-the-post-2007-economic-crisis/ (Last visited on August 16,
2017)

Miscellaneous:

 Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany’s Federal Debt Brake, available at

http://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/EN/Standardartikel/Topics/Fiscal_p
olicy/Articles/2015-12-09-german-federal-debt-
brake.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=6(Last visited on September 4, 2017)

 The Economic Time, available at

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/stimulus-package, (Last visited on
September 4, 2017)

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