PIGS (economics) explained

PIGS is a derogatory acronym that has been used to designate the economies of the Southern European countries of Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain.[1] [2] During the European debt crisis of 2009–14 the variant PIIGS, or GIPSI, was coined to include Ireland. At the time these five EU member states were struggling to refinance their government debt or to bail out over-indebted banks.[3] [4] [5]

The term originated in the 1990s with the increased integration of the EU economies, and it was often used in reference to the growing debt and economic vulnerability of the Southern European EU countries.[1] It was again popularised during the European sovereign-debt crisis of the late 2000s and expanded in use during this period. In the 1990s to late 2000s, Ireland was not included in this term; the country was still in the midst of its "Celtic Tiger" period, with debt significantly below the Eurozone average and a government surplus as late as 2006. However, taking on the guarantee of banks' debt, the Irish government budget deficit rose to 32% of GDP in 2010, which was the world's largest.[6] Ireland then became associated with the term, replacing Italy or changing the acronym to PIIGS,[1] [7] [8] with Italy also indicated as the second "I".[9]

After the crisis started in 2008, Karim Abadir used the term GIPSI to reflect the sequencing he believed would take place.[10] Sometimes, a second G (PIGGS or PIIGGS), for France or the United Kingdom, is added to the acronym.[11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

These terms are widely considered derogatory and their use was curbed by the Financial Times and Barclays Capital in 2010.[1] [17] [18] [19] PIGS is considered a racist framing that was utilized to blame South European populations for the general economic crisis, thereby legitimizing austerity measures and sovereignty losses.[20] GIPSI is deemed even more poignantly racist for its pun on the pejorative English term for the Romani people.[21]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: PIGS slaughtered. https://archive.today/20130527193503/http://www.mining-journal.com/comment/pigs-slaughtered?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=print_friendly. dead. 27 May 2013. 21 May 2010. Mining Journal. Aspermont UK. London. 21 August 2012. With all this uncertainty, an unfortunate acronym is back in fashion (despite being widely considered to be derogatory). PIGS usually refers to the economies of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, and dates back to the 1990s (when it referred generally to the southern economies of the European Union). The currently vulnerable economies of Portugal, Greece and Spain are again being grouped together due to high national budget deficits relative to GDP, and high, or rising, government debt levels. Greece has a government debt to GDP level of 120%, Portugal 90% and Spain 54%. Italy is not suffering to the same extent, and the country’s economy returned to growth in the third quarter of 2009. Also, despite a rise in unemployment in March to almost 9%, Italian output has grown rapidly recently. For this reason, Italy is often replaced in the acronym, rather arbitrarily, by Ireland (which, in 2007, became the first eurozone country to enter recession)..
  2. Web site: L'Allemagne au coeur du débat français . que l'argot communautaire a affublés d'un sobriquet peu élégant dans sa signification anglaise : « pigs », pour Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain. . 24 April 1997 . . Daniel Vernet.
  3. News: While Greece flails, are the rest of the stricken Pigs taking off?. Alistair . Dawber . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/while-greece-flails-are-the-rest-of-the-stricken-pigs-taking-off-10058352.html . 2022-05-24 . subscription . live. The Independent. 20 February 2015.
  4. News: Europe's PIGS: Country by country. BBC News. 11 February 2010 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240131212144/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8510603.stm . Jan 31, 2024 .
  5. Web site: Europe's sick 'PIGS' may dampen EAC's monetary union hopes. Kenneth Agutamba. The New Times Rwanda. 12 July 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051456/http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-07-12/190539/ . Dec 22, 2017 .
  6. Web site: Ireland . World Factbook . 22 March 2023 . CIA . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240216040334/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ireland/ . Feb 16, 2024 .
  7. News: Investing in PIIGS: Portugal. Financial News. Sarah Krouse. 19 March 2012. 21 August 2012. The acronym "PIGS" was first coined in the 1990s to describe Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain – four peripheral European Union states with the weakest economies. In 2008, it became PIIGS when Ireland was added after its banking crisis..
  8. "An Introduction To The PIIGS", Investopedia.
  9. News: Europe's PIGS: Country by country. BBC News . 11 February 2010 . Some analysts use PIIGS to include Italy - Europe's longstanding biggest debtor. . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240131212144/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8510603.stm . Jan 31, 2024 .
  10. Abadir . Karim M. . 2011-09-30 . Is the economic crisis over (and out)? . Review of Economic Analysis . 3 . 2 . 102–108 . 10.15353/rea.v3i2.1457 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220203144203/https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/rofea/article/download/1457/1873/3555 . Feb 3, 2022 . 10044/1/30058 . free .
  11. Book: Gudrun Hentges. Bettina Lösch. Die Vermessung der sozialen Welt: Neoliberalismus - Extreme Rechte - Migration im Fokus der Debatte. 2011. Springer-Verlag. 978-3-531-92756-5. 22. PIIGGS-Staaten (Portugal, Italien, Irland, Griechenland, Großbritannien, Spanien) gibt einen Hinweis auf Bevorstehendes. Linke Krisenverarbeitungen Die Wahrnehmung dieser dem F inanzmarktkapitalismus innewohnenden neuen ....
  12. Book: Guido Migliaccio. Squilibri e crisi nelle determinazioni quantitative d'azienda. Il contributo della dottrina italiana. 2013. FrancoAngeli. 978-88-204-1460-3. 354. Da considerare che anche Nazioni diverse dai Paesi PIIGGS hanno dovuto fronteggiare la crisi. [...] ...e poi il Regno Unito con l' acronimo "PIIGGS".
  13. Book: 김민주. 이정아, 김정원. 이재구. 2011 트렌드 키워드. 25 November 2010. 미래의 창. 978-89-5989-148-1. 123. 김민주, 이정아, 김정원, 이재구 - 2010 - Preview - More editions 김민주, 이정아, 김정원, 이재구. 는 영국(Great Britain)과 아일랜드(Ireland)의 재정 위기도 PIGS 못지 않다고 하여, 두 나라를 더한 PIIGGS라는 말도 나왔다. 2 0 1 1 『 뭄 숀 옌 0 ×.
  14. Book: European Debt Crisis 2011. 2011-11-02. epubli. 8. GGKEY:UEDZH7FPXQR. (65) Objections to proposed policies PIGS: Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain PIIGS: with Ireland PIIGGS: with United Kingdom (Great Britain) The crisis is seen as a justification for imposing fiscal austerity (66) on Greece in exchange for ....
  15. Web site: Niels Ruben Ravnaas. Banket gjennom giganthjelpen. Na24. 2010-05-10. 2012-04-25. Disse europeiske landene har i finansverdenen gått under økenavnet PiGS-land (Portugal, Italia, Hellas (Greece) og Spania) siden 1997. Etter at finanskrisen inntraff, og det ble økt fokus på europeiske lands statsfinanser, har også Irland og Storbritannia blitt knyttet til PIGS, noe som gjør at man nå både har samlebetegnelsene PIIGS og PIIGGS.. 2011-07-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20110719231643/http://www.na24.no/article2908474.ece. dead.
  16. Book: Matthew Sparke. Introducing Globalization: Ties, Tensions, and Uneven Integration. 5 December 2012. John Wiley & Sons. 978-1-118-24110-3. 261. an acronym which in a further sign of contagion concerns among financial commentators grew to include Ireland, with PIIGGS, and further still to register the debt-binging United States itself in PIG IS US)..
  17. Web site: James Mackintosh . STUPID investors in PIGS. Blogs Financial Times. It isn’t just touchy government ministers in Portugal, Italy, Ireland Greece and Spain who don’t like the highly appropriate acronym PIGS to sum up the troubled regions of the eurozone (the 'i' seems to be used for Ireland and Italy). The FT has a near-ban on the insulting phrase, and now Barclays Capital has banned it too, for being offensive.. 5 February 2010.
  18. Web site: Alloway . Tracy . Anything but porcine at BarCap . Alphaville. Financial Times. 2010-02-05 . 2012-04-25. FT Alphaville and the FT are not allowed to say PIIGS a certain porcine acronym. But we are in good company. Neither, it seems, is Barclays Capital. … For those who haven’t experienced the wrath of southern Europe, the forbidden-acronym is said to cause offense because it can be construed as having pejorative undertones. That doesn’t solve the problem that 'Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain' is a mouthful..
  19. News: Pigs in Muck and Lipstick . Robert . Holloway . 15 September 2008 . "The FT was accused of racism after its Lex column ran a piece about four southern European economies on September 1 headlined 'Pigs in muck'. The article almost caused a diplomatic incident when Portugal's Economy Minister Manuel Pinho said 'I am deeply offended that anyone would label my country with this term.' PIGS has been used as an abbreviation for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain since at least 1999, when they and eight other countries adopted the euro as a common currency." . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100420025605/http://blogs.afp.com/?post%2F2008%2F09%2F15%2FPigs-in-muck-and-lipstick . April 20, 2010 .
  20. Van Vossole . Jonas . 2016 . Framing PIGS: patterns of racism and neocolonialism in the Euro crisis . Patterns of Prejudice . en . 50 . 1 . 1–20 . 10.1080/0031322X.2015.1128056 . 0031-322X. 10316/41783 . 220341363 . free .
  21. Christou . Anastasia . 2018 . The "Wretched of Europe": Greece and the Cultural Politics of Inequality . Humanity & Society . en . 42 . 1 . 102–127 . 10.1177/0160597616664169 . 151782073 . 0160-5976.

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