文章基本信息

标题：Portugal — Political repercussions of the financial rescue plan
本地全文：下载
作者：Steffen Hoernig ; Steffen Hoernig
期刊名称：Intereconomics
印刷版ISSN：0020-5346
电子版ISSN：1613-964X
出版年度：2013
卷号：48
期号：4
页码：194-195
DOI：10.1007/s10272-013-0463-x
语种：English
出版社：Springer
摘要：When in early 2011 Portugal’s socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates had to submit to a €78bn bailout from the troika of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, 40 years of democratic, social and economic development came to a close. In April 1974 a long-running dictatorship was overthrown and the process of creating a democratic state began. With Portugal’s 1986 accession to the (then) Euro- pean Communities, development funds were made available and hopes were high for a successful convergence to the coveted living standards of Northern Europe. What followed only partially lived up to expectations. Portugal had some success in attracting low-wage industries and built up a viable tourism industry. Most importantly, though, the state ex- panded and grew intertwined with many sectors of the economy, while large amounts of money were spent on infrastructure such as basic sanitation and highways. Electoral poli- tics, dominated by the ambition to turn Portugal into a modern European country, demand- ed ever greater promises of higher public employment, salaries, pensions, tax deductions and health care spending. The 1990s were good years, with palpable economic growth, a transformation of citizens into consumers and a general feeling that the state had plenty of money to spend to make life better. At the end of the century, Portugal was a radically dif- fere nt place from what it had been only a few decades before.