Jim Whitney Economics 311

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

The Eurozone Crisis

1     Budget deficit (-) Government debt Long-term interest rates Unemployment rate Credit rating*
      (percent of GDP)
2                      
3     Value Rank Value Rank Value Rank Value Rank  
4                      
5 PIIRGS                  
6   Portugal -5.9% 9 82% 9 13.0% 11 12.8% 9 BB
7   Ireland -10.3% 12 75% 6 6.9% 10 14.3% 10 BBB+
8   Italy -3.6% 6 118% 11 5.1% 8 8.4% 7 BBB+
9   Greece -9.0% 11 128% 12 22.9% 12 16.3% 11 SD
10   Spain -6.2% 10 61% 3 5.2% 9 20.8% 12 A
11       Average -7.0%   93%   10.6%   14.5%    
12                      
13 Germany -1.2% 1 75% 7 1.8% 1 5.7% 3 AAA
14                      
15 Other Eurozone-12 members                  
16   Austria -3.4% 4 68% 5 2.9% 5 5.4% 2 AA+
17   Belgium -3.5% 5 100% 10 3.5% 7 7.7% 5 AA
18   Finland -2.0% 3 49% 2 2.3% 4 7.8% 6 AAA
19   France -5.7% 8 82% 8 3.0% 6 9.1% 8 AA+
20   Luxembourg -1.2% 1 16% 1 2.1% 2 6.0% 4 AAA
21   Netherlands -4.2% 7 64% 4 2.3% 3 5.2% 1 AAA
22       Average -3.3%   63%   2.7%   6.9%    
23                      
24 United Kingdom -8.8%   75%   1.5%   7.9%   AAA
25 United States -8.9%   61%   2.2%   9.1%   AA+

    * BBB- is the lowest investment-grade rating, and BB+ is the highest speculative-grade rating.