European Debt Crisis
Introduction
Europe's debt crisis is a continuation of the global financial crisis and also the result of how Europe attempted to solve the global financial crisis that brought an end to a decade of prosperity and unrestricted debt. European attempts at defending itself against a deep recession, has now created a new crisis of unsustainable and un-serviceable sovereign debt. In early 2010 fears of a sovereign debt crisis, the 2010 Euro Crisis developed concerning some European states including European Union members Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain,(affectionately known as the PIIGS) and Belgium. This led to a crisis of confidence as well as the widening of bond yield spreads and risk insurance on credit default swaps between these countries and other EU members, most importantly Germany. Concern about rising government deficits and debt levels across the globe together with a wave of downgrading of European government debt has created alarm in financial markets. The debt crisis has been mostly centred on recent events in Greece, where there is concern about the rising cost of financing government debt. On 2 May 2010, the Euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a €110 billion loan for Greece, conditional on the implementation of harsh Greek austerity measures. On 9 May 2010, Europe's Finance Ministers approved a comprehensive rescue package worth almost a trillion dollars aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe by creating the European Financial Stability Facility.
Much of this can be attributed to stimulus packages passed by European governments in order to halt the effects of the economic crisis, especially in preventing massive layoffs. Europe's heavyweights spent massively on stimulation packages. However such attempts at defending themselves against a deep recession, has now created a sovereign debt crisis. Sovereign debt is the money governments borrow and promise to pay back over a number of years. This
Europe's debt crisis is a continuation of the global financial crisis and also the result of how Europe attempted to solve the global financial crisis that brought an end to a decade of prosperity and unrestricted debt. European attempts at defending itself against a deep recession, has now created a new crisis of unsustainable and un-serviceable sovereign debt. In early 2010 fears of a sovereign debt crisis, the 2010 Euro Crisis developed concerning some European states including European Union members Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain,(affectionately known as the PIIGS) and Belgium. This led to a crisis of confidence as well as the widening of bond yield spreads and risk insurance on credit default swaps between these countries and other EU members, most importantly Germany. Concern about rising government deficits and debt levels across the globe together with a wave of downgrading of European government debt has created alarm in financial markets. The debt crisis has been mostly centred on recent events in Greece, where there is concern about the rising cost of financing government debt. On 2 May 2010, the Euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a €110 billion loan for Greece, conditional on the implementation of harsh Greek austerity measures. On 9 May 2010, Europe's Finance Ministers approved a comprehensive rescue package worth almost a trillion dollars aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe by creating the European Financial Stability Facility.
Much of this can be attributed to stimulus packages passed by European governments in order to halt the effects of the economic crisis, especially in preventing massive layoffs. Europe's heavyweights spent massively on stimulation packages. However such attempts at defending themselves against a deep recession, has now created a sovereign debt crisis. Sovereign debt is the money governments borrow and promise to pay back over a number of years. This