The European Sovereign Debt Crisis as an Issue of Accountability, Representation, and Control

Abstract

This paper aims to provide an overview of the European sovereign debt crisis and its causes and effects. In particular, it will focus on Greece sovereign debt crisis and discuss the immediate trigger point of the Goldman Sachs Bank fraud, using the concept of Accountability, Representation and Control (ARC) and its implications for international interdependence. This paper relies on qualitative document analysis of previous research to analysis the European sovereign debt crises and its causes. Based on the available evidence, some accountability issues have been found, illustrating how the Greek government mismanaged public finances by borrowing and spending high, as well as by failing to control important issues such as tax evasion. On the other hand, the European Monetary Union (EMU) also has accountability issues, due to its regulations; it has been described as negligent by some authors, as it facilitated Goldman and the Greek government’s non-disclosure of their deal in financial statements.