Lessons and Implications from the European Sovereign Debt Crisis

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The European sovereign debt crisis entered into the stage of contagion in the late 2010 as it spread first from Greece to Ireland, and then to Portugal and Spain. The European sovereign debt crisis truly resulted from a combination of various factors, some as more precipitating causes while others as more fundamental or deep-rooted causes. They include easy credit expansion during the 2003-2007 period, the global financial crisis and subsequent global recession of 2008-2012, fiscal and trade imbalances of the European countries involved in the crisis, and inherent structural problem of the EMU. From the experience of the European sovereign debt crisis, we could confirm some early warning indicators of a crisis such growth of domestic private credit and public borrowing, worsening government balances as well as external balances. Long-term interest rate spreads and an increase in fees charged by investment banks for bond issuance would be precipitating or concurrent warning indicators for a crisis. Implication from the European sovereign debt crisis for the euro area or potential economic and financial integration of East Asia is not necessarily to disband, break up or abandon a monetary union. Instead, a better alternative is to remedy problems and shortcomings exposed by the current crisis and to move toward a deeper integration.