On PIIGS, GAFFs and BRICs : An Insider-Outsider’s Perspective on the Structural and Institutional Foundations of the Greek Crisis

We discuss structural and institutional underpinnings of the Greek “Debt” Crisis. We suggest that Greece‟s de facto catching-up competitiveness model and strategy was misguided, short term-focused, and eventually doomed. Alongside this “model” were behaviours and attitudes that assisted the realisation of an anticipated collapse. Our assessment also accounts for other actors, both public and private, at the European and wider levels, notably the GAFFs (German, Austria, France, and Finland) and the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) respectively, both public and private. It takes into account implications from the emergence of the new “competitors”, and briefly explores global security and governance implications