Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Economics - Other,
grade: 1,3, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Gutenberg School of
Management & Economics), course: Dealing with Economic Crises, language:
English, abstract: The paper is divided into five parts: after the
introduction, there is a theoretical chapter which deals with the
general idea of competitiveness and scientific solutions for countries
that get into a situation in which they have to regain competitiveness
in order to improve their growth rates. The theoretical fundament of the
paper will be followed by the third part which includes the empirical
examination of the Greek competitiveness problem. Based on various data,
it will be shown that Greece experienced a conspicuous loss of
competitiveness compared to other euro zone member countries. Moreover,
it will be become evident that Greece could skip necessary structural
reforms due to declining interest rates and missing discipline within
the euro zone. Afterwards, a short description of the counter policies
and measures that were implemented or omitted will be given before
analyzing the degree of achievement. One implication will be that Greece
undertook great effort, but also could have done better in many
respects. The fourth part will pick up the results of the empirical
analysis and show that both the Troika and the Greek government acted
imperfectly, but that structural reforms currently remain the best
opportunity to reach a status of sufficient competitiveness again. The
paper is rounded off by a conclusion.
