The shortest Greece post ever
It has been suggested to me, somewhat forcibly, that ten thousand words about a bailout package from five years ago that’s long since been superseded, was a bit too much. I disagree, of course — picking over old case studies is how you learn in business school, and it’s a good idea when you want to learn about anything else. But I do understand that this is the Twitter generation, so here is a very, very condensed version of my “Relitigating the 2010 bailout” series.
How much primary deficit financing did Greece get from the troika? Roughly, EUR15bn.
How much primary deficit financing could Greece have got from anywhere other than the troika?
Roughly, zero.
So, how much did Greece benefit from the troika, in terms of smoothing output and consumption?
Roughly, 6% of GDP over four years.
Is that a lot?
Yes, proportionately, it’s about half as big again as what West Germany received under the Marshall Plan.
