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euro-zone debt crisis
Greek protesters
- Date:
- c. January 2009 - present
- Location:
- Europe
- Key People:
- Angela Merkel
- Nicolas Sarkozy
- Alexis Tsipras
- Mario Draghi
period of economic uncertainty in the euro zone beginning in 2009 that was triggered by high levels of public debt, particularly in the countries that were grouped under the acronym “PIIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain). The debt crisis was preceded by—and, to some degree, precipitated by—the global financial downturn that soured economies throughout 2008–09. When the “housing bubble” burst in the United States in 2007, banks around the world found themselves awash in “toxic” debt. Many of the so-called subprime mortgages that had fueled the tremendous growth in U.S. home ownership were adjustable-rate mortgages that carried low “teaser” ...(100 of 849 words)