The Euro Crisis. Institutional and structural problems responsible for the Euro crisis

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Economics - Other, grade: 39.5/40, University of Queensland, language: English, abstract: Although catalysed by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007-2008, substantial responsibility for the Euro crisis can be attributed to the institutional and structural problems entrenched in the design of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The crisis led to subdued growth and record levels of unemployment in the economies of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain ¿ collectively known as the GIIPS ¿ and the wider eurozone. The beginnings of the crisis were in the sovereign debt problems of these countries, the causes of which varied from successive unsustainable government deficits in Greece, to bank guarantees and bailouts shifting private debt into public hands in Ireland and Spain. What these sovereign debt crises had in common, however, were the structural and institutional problems of the EMU, which both created the conditions for, and prevented the recovery of, the wider Euro crisis.

This essay will outline these problems. First, institutions and structures in the political economy will be briefly defined. Secondly, the inability of a united monetary policy to cater for the differences between northern and southern European varieties of capitalism will be examined. Thirdly, the structures and institutions hindering a swift and effective economic recovery will be outlined. Finally, the viability of proposed recovery approaches will be evaluated.