In a recent article, Business Insider magazine compares the current crisis European countries are facing, with the Great Depression of 1929 in the United States of America.
“By the time President Roosevelt gave his inaugural address in March 1933, America was already in its fifth year of the Great Depression. This national tragedy left more than one in five working age people unemployed. Industrial production in the U.S. declined by almost half. And real GDP fell by almost a third,” Business Insider notes.
The magazine notes that the Eurozone crisis is far worse than the Great Depression. Official figures may show that Real GDP in Europe has fallen only by 5 percent and unemployment has reached 12 percent, however, behind these figures there is a far worse reality.
“In both cases the crisis exacted a heavy toll on society with some of the poorest and most vulnerable being the hardest hit. And in both opportunities to act decisively to address problems early were passed up and problems were allowed to fester,” Business Insider writes.
The article mentions that in the case of Greece, the real drop in GDP has reached 25 percent from 2007 to 2013. It further notes that unemployment in Greece has risen dramatically, especially youth unemployment.
In both cases (ie the Great Depression and the European crisis), the impact on society was great. It makes special reference to the most vulnerable social groups who have been hit by the crisis and demonstrates a picture of a public soup kitchen, commenting that “as people in the USA waited in line for a plate of food in 1929, the same now occurs in Greece.”
Greece remained at the top of European countries in terms of unemployment with 1.3 million jobless, according to Eurostat data released in September 2014. Greece is followed by Spain. Greek unemployment fell slightly in June from 27.1% to 27% since May. Eurozone unemployment remained steady at 11.5% in August, while falling across the EU from 10.2% to 10.1%.
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