Greek and spanish economy over the past three years - Essay Example

The year 2007 saw one of the most devastating of all financial crises of all times, which swept over the entire globe. Greece was in a rather juvenile phase during that time as it had not gained ample experience over its past phase of recovery, when the nation had depended substantially on transfer payments from its neighbours. Hence, it was expected that the nation could not avoid a financial crisis. The Ministry of Economy of Greece expected a fall in the annual economic growth rate from 3.6% to 2.

4% between 2007 and 2011. Prior to the shock, the nominal economic growth rate in Greece was found to be 4% in the first quarter of 2007. However, given the high rate of inflation integral to that of the nation, the real economic growth rate turned out to be much lower than was officially recorded. The true figures have been presented in the underlying graph. The annual average growth rate, adjusted for inflation, had been recorded at 0.95, 0.18 and -0.65 respectively during 2007 to 2009. These extremely low figures give a hint about the failure of the national government in reviving the economic conditions of Greece.

In addition to the poor GDP growth figures, the problems of unemployment and inflation had plagued over the economy since 2007, though improvements have been made in various developmental aspects like those of education, poverty and health. The rate of inflation had reached a peak during 2008, when the average rate had lingered around 4% throughout the year, i.e., by the middle of the term of the newly elected ND government. Though the situation slightly improved by the middle of 2009, it again went unbound by the end of the year (refer to Figure 1.2). Philips curve model of inflation imposes the fact that the rate of inflation prevailing in a nation is inversely related to the rate of unemployment it is experiencing. A similar