What kind of economic problems does Western Europe have?

Answer 1

Western Europe, and truly all of Europe, obtains a capitalistic economy. Almost every Western European nation is a member of the supranational organization, the European Union, meaning their economies are interconnected.

In 2008-2009, the economy of the European Union pretty much collapsed. One main cause was that Greece had revealed its debt was 113% of its GDP, while the cap-off for any EU member is supposed to be 60%. This led to a downgrading in credit, and raised concerns on other member nations, such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc. Without going into too much detail, this eventually led to more downgrading in credit ratings, concerns by investors, high unemployment and budget cuts, attempted bailouts, etc. As of 2013, many EU members have cleaned up their economies tremendously, while others are still lagging. For example, the UK has improved its debt by over 400%, and its main stock (FTSE 100) has reached its highest value since the beginning of the European debt crisis. Greece is still the focus of the economic crisis, with growing concerns on Spain, Italy, and even Germany, since Germany's economy is showing a slower progression.

Capitalism is the privatization of business and its economy is heavily based on the market system. Capitalism results in periods of growth and decline. Prior to the European debt crisis in 2008, Europe was experiencing periods of tremendous economic growth. This is then described as the "bubble pop", in which the growth burst, resulting in a decline. Every once in a while, in a capitalistic economy, there will be a decline in the economy. This usually is fixed within a couple of years, and then replaced with a period of economic prosperity.