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The 2008 economic crisis signalled a new era for European and global politics and introduced a new 'economic crisis discourse', which has emerged as an attempt to explain, justify, criticize and interpret economic crisis. It has introduced new terms and constructed new meanings to political life. Media economic crisis discourse has been a decisive factor in peoples' understanding of economic crisis. The paper studies the construction and media narratives of economic crisis discourse through an analysis of articles published by The Economist during the 'peak years' of the early Greek economic crisis (2009–2011). The analysis follows Laclau and Mouffe's (1985) discourse theory and reveals the 'nodal points' of Greek crisis discourse as they are presented in the articles of The Economist. The paper underlines the importance of media discourse during crisis periods, in which information dissemination and news framing may crucially affect citizens, policies and societies in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contains my responses to the papers included in the present EJPC issue on the Greek economic crisis. My critical investigation of these papers revealed the presence of either a well-disguised individualism or a naive collectivism in the authors' attempts to examine the function of psychotherapy in the midst of the current economic crisis. I suggest that one should keep alive the tension between the 'ideological' and 'radical' functions of psychotherapy by adopting a dialectical analysis which could combine both psychological and sociological explanations of the current crisis without relinquishing either or reducing one to the other [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on two strands of relative literature. The first examines the effect of sticky wages on international trade, unemployment and trade policy. The second strand looks at the effect of the exchange rate on wages. Related to this literature is the discussion in the European Union on establishing a common currency. In this paper, a theoretical and empirical model is developed which is tested using the Greek Labor Market as a case study. Also, a policy section discuss the options available to both the Greek policy makers and the leaders of Greek trade unions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper analyses the current financial crisis of global proportions and Greece's debt crisis, their generation, causes and effects which these two crises have left on both financial and real sector, primarily of USA and Europe. The global financial crisis originated in the subprime mortgage market as a result of massive approval of mortgage loans even to those clients who were not financially capable to service them within the predicted period. Such very bad mortgage loan approval regulation showed the first signs of weakness at the moment when a significant number of mortgagors were no longer able to pay their loans off. As a result of not being able to repay their debts, real estate which was in the debtor's property is now handed over to the banks which, in an effort to provide liquidity, are being forced to sell them at significantly lower prices than the ones they had at the time of loan approval. In order to stop the enormous losses which banks have suffered, primarily as a result of bad loans, and in order to provide additional bank liquidity, the resort was converting mortgages into mortgage-backed securities with government guarantees. Rating agencies highly evaluated these securities, for the simple reason that the securities had a state coverage, so that the banks, institutional investors and others bought such high-rated mortgage-backed securities, not suspecting the wrong assessment of the relevant rating agencies. With this "bad assessment" the rating agencies have only deepened the crisis and contributed to its rapid expansion to the rest of the world through financial markets. The losses that are now becoming huge, have reached the great number of participants in the financial market, and a problem that is proven to be the systemic one is gradually spilled over to the real sector. The crisis has caused and provoked other crises that have been "warming up" for decades in America as well as in Europe, such as the debt crises which recently have emerged in EU members. Debt crisis that has engulfed Greece, which is discussed about in the paper, is a result of internal and partly of external factors. The crises of the same character threaten Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers estimations of the evolution of the shadow economy in three Mediterranean countries, namely France, Spain and Greece. A multiple indicators and multiple causes model based on the latent variable structural theory has been applied. As established by Giles (Working paper on monitoring the health of the tax system, 1995), filtered data to solve the non-stationary problems are used. The model includes the tax burden (both as a whole and disaggregated into direct taxes, indirect taxes and social security contributions), a proxy of regulation burden, theu nemployment rate and self-employment as causes of the shadow economy and the GDP growth rate, the labour force participation ratio and the currency ratio as indicators of the underground economy. The results confirm that unemployment, the fiscal burden and self-employment are the main causes of the shadow economy in these countries, and confirm that an inverse relationship exists between the official GDP growth rate and that of the unofficial economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper expands upon the economic/noneconomic (cultural turn) debate in economic geography and proposes an alternative radical perspective through the lens of the European South. Based on the experience of Greece, the paper argues that no matter how important the cultural issues might be, the great political economy problems of distorted growth and incomplete development, sociospatial inequalities, and weak, incoherent and contradictory territorial policies continue to have a primary importance. The paper reviews some basic points of the cultural turn debate and then examines the orientations of radical spatioeconomic thought in postdictatorial (post-1974) Greece in arguing that this thought was mostly problem-driven, policy-oriented and focused upon the political economy of Greek socioeconomic and territorial restructuring. It is argued that a southern radical agenda has to be based more deliberately on holistic and inclusive interdisciplinary resyntheses in which cultural issues are given due attention, but not to the detriment of a radical understanding of the territorial workings of economy, society and power relations. The concluding suggestion of the paper is that it is a political turn, rather than a cultural turn, that is best suited to a radical interpretation of South European economic geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European financial crisis has raised questions about the sustainability and the contribution of innovation anchors especially in Southern European countries such as Greece. This paper utilizes the concept of regional innovation systems (RISs) and introduces a methodological approach that allows for evaluating an Science and Technology Park's (STP) contribution into the corresponding RIS performance, taking into consideration (1) the RIS idiosyncrasies, (2) the dominant role of government expenditures on R&D and (3) the underlying complexity of knowledge production and management, under alternative sets of restrictions imposed by fiscal consolidation on the preferences of authorities which design and implement Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies. Our framework relies on the estimation of a multi-input-multi-output latent knowledge production function approach and the corresponding efficiency indices. Data requirements are sourced from the Regional Innovation Scoreboard, for the four Greek regions and from a small-scale case study, with respect to the examined regional STP covering the period from 2000 to 2012. The main empirical findings highlight that the contribution of the examined STP in the corresponding RIS performance diminishes alongside with the decrease in GERD investment levels, with respect to all the efficiency indices. These findings are attributed to the structural characteristics of both the RIS and the STP under investigation, and capture their dependence on managing public financial resources for STI activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to present a review of the fiscal imbalances and debt crisis in Greece and identify the possible links with the recent developments in the Greek property market. Design/methodology/approach – The author follows a non-technical approach to discuss a number of factors that have contributed to the fiscal crisis that Greece has been experiencing since October 2009. The author critically analyses both the “internal” causes of the deteriorating fiscal stance of the Greek economy (that is the prolonged macroeconomic imbalances that the Greek economy faces and the credibility problem of macroeconomic policy) and the “external” factors that might have contributed to the Greek fiscal crisis (that is implications of the recent financial turmoil and the timing of the response of Europe to the Greek fiscal crisis). The author then studies the extent to which fiscal imbalances and the debt crisis have affected the Greek property sector. Findings – The analysis indicates that the current fiscal stance of the Greek economy and the Greek property market crisis are intertwined. Practical implications – The author believes that these results are useful, make a contribution to the existing knowledge and provide some evidence that current economic recession has a considerable adverse effect on the property sector in Greece. Originality/value – One of the distinctive features of the paper is to critically discuss the direct and indirect effects of the prolonged macroeconomic imbalances on the Greek property sector. To the best of the author's knowledge, none of the existing studies in this area provides systematic treatment of the Greek fiscal crisis as a contributory factor in explaining the current crisis in the Greek property market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main claim of this paper is that the recent Greek economic crisis is not the sole or indeed the major cause of the current predicament, but is itself an outcome of a more long-term ‘cultural’, social and political crisis. Although current debates tend to overemphasize economic considerations and international factors, the view of the author is that, although important, these factors, when discussed in isolation, tend to conceal rather than disclose the ‘meaning’ of a way of life that is in crisis. Therefore, instead of discussing nomological causes, this paper tries to point towards the content of beliefs and various articulations of beliefs that have shaped everyday conduct, and highlight social and political practices that have constituted social life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to provide an estimate of the medium term trend growth rate of real GDP for the Greek economy, for the period 2011-2015. The analysis is based on the GDP identity, according to which, real GDP is decomposed into five components, which are labor productivity, hours worked per employee, employment rate, labor force participation rate and population rate. By using the filtering techniques of the HP and Kalman filters, the trend growth rate of GDP is estimated at -1.65% over the five year period, as the sum of the trend growth rates of its individual components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of education on economic growth in Greece over the period 1960–2000 by applying the model introduced by Mankiw, Romer, and Weil. The findings of the empirical analysis reveal that education had a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth in Greece over the period 1960–2000. The econometric model explained up to 66% of the variation of the economic growth rate through the variation of the independent variables (physical capital, human capital, and labor). More specifically, when the coefficient of education is estimated using time lags, the contribution of the annual differences of human capital growth to the annual differences of GDP growth has been estimated from an annual 0.64% up to 0.81%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of global change on the status and qualities of the Greek national capital, Athens, focusing on how they affect the development of cultural tourism in the city. Although Athens constituted one of the most significant destinations for Greek tourism in the past, in recent years it started to weaken. Athens is characterised by a series of problems, among them are the degradation of its environment and quality of life and traffic congestion. However, in terms of tourism development, the Olympic Games helped in re-imaging the city and upgrading its infrastructure. This study based on semi-structured interviews with top officials reveals how global change has affected Athens’ socio-cultural/economic status, identity and image. Despite the tourism policy/planning responses to global changes, Athens’ tourism continues to decline leaving unexplored potential such as its rich cultural heritage, new multicultural identity and the New Acropolis Museum. The paper suggests that cultural elements of capital cities must be multidimensional including a variety of attractions and amenities. The use of cultural heritage assets needs to be in line with global developments in order for cities to effectively leverage heritage for cultural tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 2004 Olympic Games showcased Greece on a global stage, with Athens and its hinterland benefiting from massive infrastructure projects. Stringent attempts were made to develop culture, tourism and agriculture, but many urban and rural areas experienced de-industrialisation, not unlike that found in Western Europe. The rural/urban divide within Greece is particularly acute as the Greek islands and farming communities benefited more from Euro-funds than some of their semi-urbanised counterparts. The cases examined in this paper (Kastoria's beaver industry, Lavrion's mining, and textiles and fruit in Naoussa) suffered the loss of markets, poor investment and a shrinking employment base. All three localities had (limited) national policy interventions that ultimately failed, whereas Athens, where the 2004 Olympics were hosted, had massive investment. This paper is framed within global, EU and local policy contexts, to examine specific areas in Greece, and shows that despite numerous EU-driven partnerships for culture, tourism and agriculture across the mainland and Hellenic islands, clientelism, especially within political parties, remains prevalent at all governance levels. The success or otherwise of regeneration efforts was significantly affected by the ways in which elite actors were involved. In summary, the cases illustrate uneven development across Greece by highlighting the role of national and local elites in shaping growth or decline; the significance of political parties and clientelism; different types of partnerships; and levels of intervention and non-intervention. The dynamic interplay of a constellation of factors reveals how regeneration and economic development are played out in specific localities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is proposing an analysis of the Greek sovereign debt crisis and the implications a Grexit would have on the European financial markets. Despite the measures taken to reduce the exposure of the private sector to the Greek sovereign debt and the imposed austerity measures, the scenario of Greece leaving the eurozone and adopting a new national currency has almost become a reality when at the end of June 2015 it failed to make a scheduled payment to the International Monetary Fund, becoming the first developed country to do so. This paper will analyze how the capital markets responded to this event in an attempt to see if there would be a risk of contagion in such an eventuality and what where the reasons that have led to such a scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the similarities and differences between the Greek (2009-...) and the Mexican (1994-1995) crisis. Both of them had regional impacts, in Europe in the first case and in South America in the second case. After the crisis, important decisions that were taken changed the way economic policy is made in both countries. Measures taken to resolve the crises involved several key players, both at the national and the supranational level. In both crises, Greece and Mexico received a number of recommendations to be applied in their economic policies. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact and role of national and supranational key players involved in the resolution of both crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ways in which the Greek economic crisis has affected the social development of Albanian immigrants in both the sending and the host country. It focuses on transnational households and family development projects and examines the degree of resilience and the power of motivation that drives people’s reactions during the crisis, comparing first- and second-generation immigrants. My research focuses mainly on those Albanian immigrants who by the third year of the economic crisis still live in Greece. The empirical analysis is based on primary data derived from participant observation, a semi-structured questionnaire with second-generation migrants and in-depth interviews amongst first- and second-generation Albanian immigrants residing in both urban and rural areas in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates whether stable long-run money demand function for real narrow money exists in Greece over the period 2001:Q1-2010:Q4. To achieve this objective, the Johansen maximum likelihood procedure is used. Then, Gregory and Hansen tests are applied to test the possible structural breaks in money demand functions. To examine the existence of seasonal unit roots in quarterly data, the Hylleberg, Engle, Granger and Yoo (HEGY) test is used. The estimated results from the Johansen procedure show that there is no cointegration vector. On the other hand, Gregory-Hansen test for cointegration analysis supports the existence of one cointegration vector. Gregory and Hansen tests propose three structural breaks for the money demand function. These structural breaks occurred in 2008:Q3, 2009:Q1 and 2010:Q1. Furthermore, through the error correction model and CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests, the stability of the money demand function is examined. The results show that in the case of Greece, money demand is unstable during the period under investigation (2001:Q1-2010:Q4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are crucial nodes of global economic networks. A city's economic success largely depends on its social capital and the existence of a hegemonic coalition for development. This paper focuses on Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece, a country on the European periphery. The slow pace of development during the last 20 years has placed Thessaloniki in a vicious circle. It is argued that given the significant structural problems in Greece, a wide social coalition for development that embraces a large segment of the socio-economic, political and intellectual forces is necessary to boost Thessaloniki's development and ensure that its fruits will be reaped by all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the implications of Greece’s intense and long-lasting fiscal and external imbalances for the potential efficacy of a discretionary fiscal policy response to the current recession. It argues that, given recent developments in interest rate spreads and the credit markets’ increased sensitivity to risk, the interest rates applicable to the entire amount of Greece’s external debt would tend to be higher with a fiscal expansion than without one. Moreover, it deduces from a simple model that the leakages associated with increased interest payments to foreign creditors could well cancel out any positive multiplier effects generated by a fiscal expansion, resulting in a failure to stimulate growth. The implications of this finding for policy is that Greece should continue to avoid the adoption of a fiscal stimulus package, not only out of respect to its fiscal obligations as an EU member but, ultimately, because such a package would be ineffective as an economic recovery tool. While the analysis focuses on the Greek economy, it may be of relevance to other EU economies suffering from serious macroeconomic imbalances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1990s, Greece has been a popular immigrant destination; nowadays, around one-tenth of the population are immigrants - mainly from neighbouring Balkan countries, especially Albania. This large-scale immigration within a short time-period has had important social, as well as, economic consequences. The paper reviews the existing evidence and concludes that on average the economic effects of immigration were beneficial, although their distributional consequences were adverse. The main positive effects are associated with the increase in the GDP growth rate; revitalization of the agricultural sector and many small and medium enterprises; the dampening of inflationary pressures; and the short-term positive impact of immigration on the social security system. On the negative side, immigrants have helped to expand the already large informal economy, and although on aggregate their skills seem to complement those of native workers, they have tended to substitute for Greek unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This has excerbated income inequality, as well as increasing unemployment and slowing wage growth for those with low skills. Greek immigration policy has been haphazard, and measures are required to integrate the immigrants into the economic and social fabric of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impacts of yachting on the Greek economy. The contribution of yachting to major macroeconomic values and its impact on the Greek economy in 2004 are evaluated with the use of the tourism satellite account (TSA). The method has been applied by several countries to estimate the economic impacts of the traditionally designated tourism-related industries, as well as of all industries participating in the tourist economy, but not for the economic effects of special interest tourism (such as yachting). To date, there has been no application of this method in Greece either for the total tourism industry or for a specific tourism 'sector'. The adaptation of TSA tables, maintaining harmonization with OECD directives and definitions which are approved and accepted internationally, is a precondition of the research. To achieve the research aims, both the theoretical and empirical aspects of yachting in Greece were investigated. Data from public sources have been included in the TSA tables. Since these tables require information with economic value, which is not found in the data recorded by many public services, primary research was conducted to collect this necessary information. The paper concludes by presenting the impacts of yachting on the major macroeconomic values of the Greek economy, such as tourist consumption, gross domestic product, balance of invisible resources, national income, employment, investments and public revenues (taxes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper analyses survey evidence on foreign firms' R&D in Greece, in the light of recently derived perceptions of decentralisation of knowledge-related activities in MNEs' strategic programmes. • We investigate various aspects of MNEs' knowledge-related competitiveness in an intermediate-level economy. We examine the nature, extent and influences of R&D positioning. We also test empirically the relationship between subsidiaries' strategic motivations and the different roles allocated to R&D departments. • In the main, the results meet expectations for a middle-income peripheral European economy. Original development work is at significant levels. However, adaptation of existing technologies to local conditions is still the primary aim of R&D in MNE subsidiaries in Greece. There are clear signs of integration/interdependence of work in R&D labs with other parts of MNE networks. The survey evidence also confirms that subsidiaries' roles are a decisive factor determining the type of overseas labs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to document the health effects of the Greek financial crisis. The hardship of the crisis as well as the austerity measures put in place to combat it are found to have negatively impacted public health, personal health, and mental health within the country. Despite these sobering findings, NGOs have made promising and innovative advances in countering the negative health effects, and the government is actively working towards the creation of policies that will bring this crisis within a crisis to an end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debt crisis in Greece since 2010 has triggered seismic changes in the political attitudes of the society and, above all, the political identity and discourse of the country. The extremely unpopular austerity policies caused a severe internal polarization which quickly translated into anti-German mass hysteria, vitriolic anti-EU rhetoric and sharp anti-austerity populism. This paper will endeavour to identify the origins, course and outcome of this dramatic shift in the political attitudes and identity in Greece and analyse them with the benefit of hindsight – almost six years after the eruption of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented on the Greek economic crisis that began in 2009. Topics include austerity measures, the emergence of coalition governments Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) and right nationalist or Independent Greeks, and the achievements and failures of the adjustment programs between 2010 and 2014. It also examines the country's new loan agreement with the European Stability Mechanism for 2015 and 2018, and the present and future role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This paper analyses the serial misdiagnosis of Greek debt sustainability in the official sector lending framework. The standard debt sustainability analysis frameworks of the IMF and ESM have become inappropriate for Greece since they ignore the highly concessional terms of Greek debt. We show that two thirds of Greek debt contains grant elements of about 54%, and the present value of outstanding Greek debt is now about 100% of GDP, rising to about 120% under the new program. In spite of the exceptionally high debt relief already granted, these number still breach the thresholds of debt sustainability and suggest that further restructuring will be required. However, the main problem lies in the repayment flow over the medium term and in the question of burden sharing within the group of official creditors (European institutions and IMF). We also show that the lending policies of the IMF as well as the ESM have been adapted repeatedly to accommodate Greece, leaving the overall lending framework weakened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study is to assess whether and to what extent inflation differentials between the tradable and nontradable sectors in the Greek economy are due to the domestic version of the Balassa–Samuelson (BS) effect and, therefore, the ‘expensiveness’ of the country and its huge deficit of international competitiveness. Using data over the period 1989 to 2009 from the Greek economy, the empirical results indicate that the domestic BS effect is present for the case of Greece and seems to explain about 33% of the overall inflation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The size and trends of the Greek underground economy are examined over the period of 1958 to 2011. Estimates vary according to the method used and the time period under investigation. Overall, more than one quarter to one third of Greek economic activities have been either unrecorded or hidden from official statistics. Tax evasion, labour market rigidities, lack of competition and over-regulation are among the contributing factors. The underground economy is often viewed as a serious obstacle to economic growth. However, the empirical results are ambiguous. Dynamic models are explored to examine the relationship between the underground economy and economic growth. In the short run, one percentage point increase in the rate of economic growth would reduce the underground economy by 0.13, and in the long run by 1.26. The Greek Government is currently introducing structural reforms pursuing fiscal consolidation, transparency and e-governance strategies to combat tax evasion, and monitoring strategies in the statistical system to produce valid and reliable data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is grounded in the considerable body of scholarship examining the formation of the global environment around the Greek crisis, the evolution of the crisis that affected the Greek economy, the need of financing the individuals and the enterprises after the crisis, and the impact of the crisis on the basic aggregates of the global economy. The paper generates insights about the impact of the economic crisis on Greece's external relations, the impact of the crisis on Greece's foreign policy, the association of self-rated health with economic crisis, and the role played by global finance in the crisis in the euro zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an analysis of the neoliberal construction of European monetary integration, the Greek economic crisis and the Hayekian-style austerity policies being used to deal with it are analyzed. After theoretically characterizing these policies, the paper analyzes how their generalization in Europe is helping to deepen the European crisis and jeopardizing the recovery of the world economy. Nevertheless, the reason of the crisis is the loss of monetary sovereignty of every country and the financing of the state is sustained across the financial bank and not bank investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses coastal leisure shipping activity in Greece and estimates its economic contribution to the national economy. Even though the activity is encompassed by the shipping transport sector and is supervised by the Ministry of Merchant Marine, its product appears to be offered exclusively to tourists. The magnitude of the economic contribution of coastal leisure shipping to the Greek economy is assessed through the implementation of the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA). Although the contribution of coastal leisure shipping to the national economy is not very substantial, it is significant to the local economies of the insular and coastal regions. The tourist 'day ships' constitute a dependable means of connecting the small islands with the larger islands and the ports of continental Greece. The role of the daily sea tours for the inhabitants of small islands is purely that of a means of transportation, since for most of them the tourist boats are an alternative, or sometimes the only means of connection with the rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and critically discusses the origins and causes of the Greek fiscal crisis and its implications for the euro currency as well as the SEE economies. In the aftermath of the 2007-2009 financial crisis the enormous increase in sovereign debt has emerged as an important negative outcome, since public debt was dramatically increased in an effort by the US and the European governments to reduce the accumulated growth of private debt in the years preceding the recent financial turmoil. Although Greece is the country member of the eurozone that has been in the middle of this ongoing debt crisis, since November 2009 when it was made clear that its budget deficit and mainly its public debt were not sustainable, Greece's fiscal crisis is not directly linked to the 2007 US subprime mortgage loan market crisis. As a result of this negative downturn the Greek government happily accepted a rescue plan of 110 billion euros designed and financed by the European Union and the IMF. A lengthy austerity programme and a fiscal consolidation plan have been put forward and are to be implemented in the next three years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the high rate of exports from Greece and explores the Greek economy and the export behavior of Greek firms. The reasons why Greek companies are exporting to southeast Europe are examined and the factor analysis technique is used to analyze these reasons. Details are provided about the performance of Greek companies that export and enter into the markets in southeast Europe. The fields that Greek firms invest in, including telecommunications, manufacturing, and finance services, are also described.

The article reviews the measures implemented in Greece during the economic crisis, and assesses their degree of success in leading to the catharsis for the chronic problems of the country's health system. Topics discussed include the European health model, European Union health policy intervention, and impact of health care reforms on population health and quality of life.

The article discusses the Greek debt crisis of 2012 and explains why holder of Greek debt have not been successful in Austrian courts. Information is provided on the Greek Private Sector Involvement (PSI) debt restructuring operation before the author covers decisions by the Austrian Supreme Court in cases involving Austrian retail investors who owned Greek-law governed bonds.

In January 2015 an early parliamentary election was held in Greece, amidst harsh economic conditions and the saliency of the issue of Greece’s relations with the European Union. The election, won by the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), marked a popular will for a total change of the governing paradigm and economic policies and, at the same time, confirmed that in countries that face economic crisis and have signed bail-out agreements entailing harsh austerity measures, government parties are sooner or later punished by the electorate, albeit in different degrees. In terms of systemic trends, the January 2015 election confirmed for the Greek party system an unstable process of acquiring a new shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to the membership of Greece in the European Union and the eurozone governance. Topics discussed include the challenges faced by the eurozone after the Greek drama in 2015 such as slow economic growth and low oil prices, the standoff of the eurozone with Syriza, the economic outlook of the region in 2015, and the factors that drive the tentative economic recovery of the region. Also mentioned are fundamental developments in the monetary policy of the region such as the quantitative easing programme of the European Central Bank (ECB), the single supervisory mechanism (SSM), and the economic policy co-ordination.