Pagoulatos, George, Triantopoulos, Christos, (2009),‘The Return of the Greek Patient: Greece and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis’, South European Society and Politics, Vol. 14, Issue 1, p.p.35-54.
The 2008 financial crisis found the Greek economy in a position of fiscal vulnerability, given the large public debt, and structural weaknesses, demonstrated in a huge current account deficit. The banking system was relatively robust, but exposed to imported risks from the emerging Southeast European markets. The government adopted a ‘financial crisis reaction plan’. Its reaction affirmed long-lasting features of Greece’s ‘credit-based’, partly state-controlled financial system. Sectors most visibly affected by the crisis are housing construction, tourism, shipping and the small–medium enterprise sector. Paradoxically, some facets of relative underdevelopment of the Greek model of capitalism are serving to mitigate the intensity of the crisis.