Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
The Greek Economy: It’s Just Plain Ugly
The Greek Economy: It’s Just Plain Ugly
Mar 19, 2026 4:58 AM

Greece has had to deal with a very uncertain economic outlook over the past decade or so, but now it’s getting downright ugly. Greece owes over $1 billion this month in debt repayments, along with pensions, government salaries and other obligations. They likely don’t have the money.

The rapidly deteriorating Greek economy makes its already daunting debt pile even harder to manage, a key point of contention between Athens and its lenders. The [European Commission’s] latest forecast reckons that Greece’s debt will reach a whopping 180% of GDP this year, much higher than expected in recent months. Greece’smost recent bailout agreement called for its debt-to-GDP ratio to fall to 110% by 2022, which looks nearly impossible without some sort of restructuring, write-down, or default.

The unemployment rate in Greece hovers around 25 percent, which is the highest in the developed world. On top of all this, Greece may lose the support of the International Monetary Fund, which oversees the $172 billion bailout.

Greece is so far off course on its $172bn bailout programme that it faces losing vital International Monetary Fund support unless European lenders write off significant amounts of its sovereign debt, the fund has warned Athens’ eurozone creditors.

The warning, delivered to eurozone finance ministers by Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s European department, raises the prospect that it may hold back its portion of a €7.2bn tranche of bailout aid that Greece is desperately attempting to secure to avoid bankruptcy.

According to The Economist, the only bright spot in Greece’s economy is tourism, which seems not to have waned during the financial upheaval. But Greece cannot live on the bread of tourism alone; it will have to get its financial larder in order and soon, or the nation will be very hungry indeed.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Is capitalism making us fat?
As workers emerge from the holidays an average of one pound heavier, weight loss tops every list of New Year’s resolutions. Yet in 2019, physicians are asking politicians to classify obesity as a disease to be treated by taxing sugary foods – and mentators are blaming our penchant for overindulgence on the capitalist system. If obesity is a disease, then in the West it is an epidemic. Some 40 percent of Americans and 30 percent of adults in the UK...
Criminal justice reform: Possible effects of the First Step Act
This is part three of a series on criminal justice reform. The First Step Act was one of the last laws passed by the 115th Congress and signed by President Trump before the current federal government shutdown. The act, which largely focuses on recidivism reduction through prison reform and some sentencing reforms, is also notable for the generally bipartisan support it received. In this finalpart of a three-part series on criminal justice reform, we’ll consider some of the implications of...
Alejandro Chafuen in Forbes: The U.S. economy in 2019 – challenges and lower expectations
Where is the economy heading in 2019? Changes in economic growth are much less volatile than the performance of stock markets. In order to forecast what will happen in an economy it is better to focus on the fundamentals, which is to say, examining causes rather than effects. In my forecast for 2018, I included as a factor of my optimism the increase in value of U.S. stocks during the first years of the presidency of Donald J. Trump. This...
How do we measure inflation?
Note: This is post #105 in a weekly video series on basic economics. Inflation is an average rise in prices. But how exactly is this average rise in prices measured? In this video by Marginal Revolution University,Alex Tabarrok explains how inflation in the United States can be measured using theBureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI)—a weighted average of the price increases. We can calculate the inflation rate by the percentage change in the CPI over a given period...
Unemployment as economic-spiritual indicator — December 2018 report
Series Note: Jobs are one of the most important aspects of a morally functioning economy. They help us serve the needs of our neighbors and lead to human flourishing both for the individual and munities. Conversely, not having a job can adversely affect spiritual and psychological well-being of individuals and families. Because unemployment is a spiritual problem, Christians in America need to understand and be aware of the monthly data on employment. Each month highlight the latest numbers we need...
What Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets wrong about Europe
During her interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, newly sworn in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez justified her vision of democratic socialism by invoking a caricature of Europe. When asked if she wanted to turn the United States into a version of Venezuela or the Soviet Union, Ocasio-Cortez demurred with an incredulous smile. “What we have in mind,” she said, according to the transcript, “and what of my — and my policies most closely re— resemble what we see in the U.K.,...
6 Quotes: Richard John Neuhaus on politics and religion
Richard John Neuhaus, founder of First Things magazine, died ten years ago today. Fr. Neuhaus was a Lutheran minister before ing a Catholic priest, and a radical liberal activist before ing a leading voice for religious and political conservatives. In honor of this anniversary of his passing, here are six quotes by Fr. Neuhaus on politics and religion: On politics, culture, and religion: “Politics is chiefly a function of culture, at the heart of culture is morality, and at the...
Explainer: What you should know about the U.S. president’s emergency powers
What just happened? Last Friday President Trump said he was considering using his national emergency powers to secure funding for the construction of a border wall between U.S.-Mexico border. “We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly,” said the president. What are national emergency powers? The President of the United States has certain powers that may be exercised in the event that the nation is threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war,...
6 Quotes by Teddy Roosevelt on virtue and character
Yesterday was the centennial anniversary of the death of Theodore Roosevelt. There are many areas of policy and politics where those of us at the Acton Institute would differ with America’s 26th president. But we share mitment to virtue and character, and its importance for both individual flourishing and for public life. In honor of this anniversary, here are six quotes by Roosevelt on those character and virtue: On virtue and success in life: “There are many qualities which we...
Reviving the spirit of free trade
The current support for tariffs in the United States has left me disappointed, frustrated, and in many unproductive debates. The French political philosopher, Frédéric Bastiat, best articulated my sentiments in an 1847 letter to Richard Cobden, “And I want not so much free trade itself as the spirit of free trade for my country. Free trade means a little more wealth; the spirit of free trade is a reform of the mind itself, that is to say, the source of...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved