Overall time-line of initial Greece bailout and nearing requirement of another
Greece has been a thorn in the side of world markets since 2010, even after given a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to the tune of $146 billion dollars. This problem child of the EU which continues to have problems balancing their sheets seemed to have gone unnoticed amid the world markets – at least for a little while, after the initial bailout.
Greece’s austerity fears affect not only the ‘Eurozone,’ but across the ocean to the United States. Dow Jones Industrial Average being a prime example; the DJIA dropped like a sack of potatoes in May of 2010, coinciding with Greece’s austerity problems after it had been making a series of higher highs. The drop was so severe that you could not turn on CNN, FOX, or the BBC for that matter and not see a ticker scrolling across the television screen announcing to viewers that the DJIA had dropped below 10,000 points into 9,000 territory.
Undeniably, that is quite a change when less than a month before the DJIA had been trading around 11,000 points. It took from May to July of 2010 for bearish momentum to begin dissipating and for the trend to reverse north before a new high could be made. Furthermore, a new high would not be made until November, half of a year later to get back on track to where the industrial average had been in May.
Now, Greece still has yet to get their financial situation under control and are quickly spending what money was given to them, and want more so that they can continue to pay debts. This rekindled issue has been re-spotlighted amongst the media beginning in May one year later from the same situation Greece brought up in 2010.
Again, the DJIA has faltered. This time around, however, the reaction on the market was not as surprising and bearish momentum has seemed to have dried up much quicker than in 2010. Potentially less volatile of a situation due to persons this time around at least having an ounce of foresight of when Greece’s bailout funds would dry up, a much more manageable situation instead of a new problem coming from ‘left field’ unexpectedly.
Greece is in the process of trying to balance their sheets, selling off state property such as airports, roads, etc. If you ever wanted your very own airport or road, Greece is the place to be and hopefully you will find local employment outside of the local government as Greece is proposing to cut the public work-force by 150,000 jobs.