Over the past ten years, Greece had been on a debt spree that came to an abrupt halt in late 2009. This unsustainable expenditure in social entitlements provoked an economic crisis that had destroyed the country’s economy, brought down its governing body, unleashed increasing unrest in the populace and greatly endangered the future of the euro. Greece’s debt issues can be traced back to years of spending that the government did not recuperate in taxes. Greece was borrowing from banks worldwide and had no way of repaying the billions of dollars owed. One might even trace the issues further back to 2001 when Greece joined the euro zone. The policy-makers misreported the real level of public borrowing so that Greece could meet the euro zone’s entry guidelines. As a result, the euro offered significantly lower interest rates than the drachma, Greece’s previous currency, and the country was able to access capital at a much more favourable rate. This deception brought about an increase in the money supply to Greece and a drastic rise in wages, especially in the ever increasing public sector (Steininger).
In the latter half of 2009, Greece’s new government under Prime Minister George A. Papandreou
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