Some concluding remarks

Upon starting this blog I had heard so much about the Greek crisis, it was (and still is) a hot topic, not only in the financial world but it the general media.  However, I felt I did not know a great deal about it.

This was the motivation behind my blog, not only to satisfy curriculum requirements but to further my knowledge of the world around me. Perhaps in the process of being bombarded with information we tend to switch off, or feel like there is too much to really get to grips with, especially if you haven't been keeping up to date thus far.  This blog aimed to simplify what we hear in the media or read in financial newspapers and explain why the crisis happened, what has happened as a result and what is being done to deal with the issues.  The findings of the blog, and what is happening with Greece, are aligned with the extant literature of Mishkin (1999) in his paper 'Lessons from the Asian crisis'.  He outlines that "...there is a strong rationale for government intervention to get the financial system back on its feet", we see this in Greece by the eurozone countries attempting to bail out Greece with various bailout packages, most recently for 130bn euros.  Another lesson from the Asian crisis is that "...an international lender of last resort has to impose appropriate conditionality on its lending in order if it wants to aviod creating excessive moral hazard which encourages financial instability", this has also been demonstrated in the Greek crisis since the bailout packages have come with the condition of imposing austerity measures.

What the future holds for Greece and the euro is anyone's guess.  Some say it has turned in to a legal issue now rather than a financial one, as to whether Greece will default or not.  In my opinion it will be a long road ahead for Greece and the EU, and will certainly be one that will dominate media headlines for many years to come. However, I hope that we see the day where Greece is once again remembered for its beauty and coastline rather than its bottom line.