2. Should the Eurozone partners expel members from the EU who do not meet the financial criteria set out by the EU? Explain. P-1-1- G-S! You would expect to hear this sort of language in an elementary school playground. Lately, however, this acronym is used by reporters to identify the primary sources of the economic crisis that threatens the European Union. The villains are Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain.

Why are they villains? The governments of these countries have been spending far more money than they have been taking in. In 201 o, most of the headlines focused on Greece as the leading culprit. This small European nation was particularly guilty of overspending and not living up to commitments it made when it entered the Eurozone. In 2009, Greece's annual deficit was 13 percent of GOP, which is far above the Eurozone's self-imposed limit of 3 percent. When an individual has too much debt and not enough income, bankruptcy is often the only solution. Default, the national equivalent, became a very real possibility for Greece. The country's financial situation had become very bad; partially because of U.S.-based Goldman Sachs' role as an enabler (it shielded some of Greece's debt with off-balance-sheet currency swaps).