Greek Sovereign Defaults in Retrospect and Prospect

Tsoulfidis, Lefteris and Zouboulakis, Michel (2016): Greek Sovereign Defaults in Retrospect and Prospect.

Abstract

This article presents and critically evaluates the four Greek sovereign defaults (1827, 1843, 1893 and 1932) and puts them into a historical perspective. The argument is that each and every of the defaults was not an isolated episode in the turbulent economic history of capitalism, but rather a manifestation of the internal weaknesses of the Greek economy which were magnified during the downturn phases of the long waves of 1815-1845, 1873-1896, and 1921–1940. Crucial for the precipitation of these defaults were the short-sighted and often opportunistic policies followed by the Greek governments which were eager to increase public spending based on borrowed money which lead to mounting public debt. As a consequence, the past Greek sovereign defaults are worth studying in an effort to derive useful lessons and policy conclusions for the current and also future situations.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Sovereign default, depressions, long waves, Greek economy
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B1 - History of Economic Thought through 1925 > B10 - General; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches > B50 - General; F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F34 - International Lending and Debt Problems; N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations > N14 - Europe: 1913-; N - Economic History > N2 - Financial Markets and Institutions; N - Economic History > N2 - Financial Markets and Institutions > N24 - Europe: 1913-

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