Southern Europe and the Financial Earthquake : Coping with the First Phase of the International Crisis

Amidst the growing literature on the economic crisis, this volume offers an important perspective so far lacking: an exclusive focus on the crucial region of Southern Europe. Covering the decisive first phase of the crisis, it provides a comparative study of the initial impact of the 2008 Lehman Brothers’ collapse and varying policy responses in seven South European countries both inside and outside the eurozone.

This book was published in 2009 as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.

Following the outbreak of the international financial crisis, Southern Europe became an epicentre of economic instability and international concern. The prospect of a sovereign debt default in the eurozone’s ‘flaky fringe’ sent shock waves through the European and global economies. Examining the crucial initial phase, when the financial crisis was just beginning to spill over into the real economy, the volume surveys the impact of the September 2008 Lehman Brothers’ collapse across the EU’s southern periphery. The six South European eurozone members – Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta – are viewed in comparative perspective with EU candidate state and non-eurozone member, Turkey. In an era before the spectacular EU/IMF bailouts, the picture that emerges is one of national differentiation, illuminating these countries’ different starting points and varying policy responses in the face of the gathering financial storm.

This book was published in 2009 as a special issue of South European Society and Politics.