Abstract
In this introductory chapter, the author reviews the economic crisis in Greece, which is of unprecedented depth and duration, and describes the main features of the severe social crisis which has ensued. The author argues that, beyond the magnitude and complexity of the economic problems of Greece, the severity of the social crisis is also due to Greeceās inefficient and fragmented welfare state. The author proceeds to lay out the rationale of the volume, which is based on the idea that economic crises set in motion a double fragmentation process: a material one, whereby losers join the ranks of outsiders in a downgraded status of exclusion, and an ideational dimension of fragmentation and exclusion, whereby a discursive-cultural rift is forming between the new (and old) insiders and outsiders.
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Notes
- 1.
Following the signing of the third bailout agreement in August 2015, the European Stability Mechanism, which is responsible for the funding of the programme, joined the Troika. The new group is often referred to as the Quartet.
- 2.
Internal devaluation policies aim at reducing domestic labour costs (i.e. wages) and consequently export prices in order to restore the international competitiveness of an economy. It is a policy typically employed when currency (external) devaluation is not possible for a country (in the case of Greece because of its participation in the Eurozone ).
- 3.
Anastasatou (2017) reports that the fiscal adjustment measures taken throughout the crisis amounted to more than 30Ā per cent of the Greek GDP. The fiscal adjustment that has been achieved in terms of the cyclically adjusted fiscal primary balance exceeds 16 per cent of the GDP, which makes it the biggest in a developed country in recent decades; moreover, it was achieved in a very short period of time compared with other, similar adjustments (Anastasatou 2017).
- 4.
For a review and assessment of the first bailout programme, see Pisani-Ferry et al. (2013).
- 5.
The second bailout agreement was signed in February 2012.
- 6.
For a review of the differences between the policy proposals contained in the pre-election political documents of Syriza and the policies it adopted following the signing of the third bailout agreement, see Katsikas (2016).
- 7.
Ī¤he Greek government agreed in June 2017 to a fiscal target of 3.5Ā per cent primary fiscal surplus until 2022 and a 2Ā per cent surplus from 2023 until 2060. See Eurogroup Statement on Greece, 15/06/2017.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
- 11.
Perhaps the most important of these was the failure to properly estimate the impact of austerity policies on the Greek economy, as acknowledged by the International Monetary Fundās own chief economist; see Blanchard and Leigh (2013).
- 12.
For a more detailed analysis of this critique and an overview of the related literature, see Chap. 4, by D. A. Sotiropoulos, in this volume.
- 13.
The difference was reduced the years before the crisis as social spending as a percentage of GDP increased gradually during the 2000s.
- 14.
The data reported is in billions of euros because the figures of expenditures as a percentage of GDP would show a distorted image. Between 2009 and 2014, Greeceās expenditure on social protection grew, on average, to 26.6Ā per cent of GDP. However, since GDP declined substantially during the crisis, social expenditure appears to increase, not because it increased in absolute terms but because it fell less than GDP.
- 15.
Once again, it should be noted that this increase is in terms of GDP, which declined dramatically during this period. Accordingly, the reported increase in pensionsā expenditure means that while pensions have been cut substantially during the crisis, their reduction was, on average, less than the decline of the GDP.
- 16.
EUROMOD is a tax-benefit micro-simulation model for the EU countries which enables researchers and policy analysts to calculate the effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes and work incentives for the population of different member states and for the EU as a whole.
- 17.
The EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) is a survey that has taken place across the EU since 2003. It is carried out by the national statistical authorities, which collect data through surveys on poverty, living conditions and social exclusion.
- 18.
Poverty, as typically measured in the literature, is a relative concept; that is, it measures a level of income below which an individual is considered to be poor compared with the other members of society. The most commonly used (but not the only) poverty line is set at 60Ā per cent of the median (or average) income.
- 19.
In contrast to the relative poverty line, a fixed poverty line is not correlated with the average or median income and consequently with the income distribution. A fixed poverty line can be a very useful analytical tool in cases of big and rapid positive (negative) changes in economic output in a country. In such circumstances, there is a tendency for the entire distribution to move upwards (downwards), thus leaving inequality and therefore also relative poverty largely unchanged. Accordingly, in such circumstances, it makes sense to compare peoplesā level of living not with other people in the same society but with the same peoplesā living circumstances of only a few years before.
- 20.
For a study on the alarming increase in child poverty, see also Papatheodorou and Papanastasiou (2017).
- 21.
These movements should be viewed in relative terms, as overall the income of all groups was substantially reduced during the crisis.
- 22.
The AROPE indicator is defined as the share of the population in at least one of the following three conditions: (a) at risk of poverty (i.e. below the poverty threshold), (b) in a situation of severe material deprivation and (c) living in a household with very low work intensity. Material deprivation is defined as the inability to afford some items (three in the case of material deprivation and four in the case of severe material deprivation) considered by most people to be desirable or even necessary to lead an adequate life (there is a list of nine such items), whereas a household with very low work intensity is defined as a household whose working-age members (18ā59 years old, excluding students between 18ā24 years old) have worked during the income reference year less than 20Ā per cent of their full work potential. See Eurostat website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Quality_of_life_indicators-material living_conditions
- 23.
Food insecurity was measured through the Food Security Survey Module (FSSM) questionnaire administered to parents (see Deitchler et al. 2011). The FSSM contains 18 questions concerning characteristic incidents of food insecurity (stress caused by lack of food, inadequate quality and quantity of food consumed, etc.). For more details on the concept and the method employed, see Katsikas et al. (2015).
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Katsikas, D. (2018). Introduction. In: Katsikas, D., Sotiropoulos, D., Zafiropoulou, M. (eds) Socioeconomic Fragmentation and Exclusion in Greece under the Crisis. New Perspectives on South-East Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68798-8_1
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