what does piigs mean 
piigs is a derisive acronym for portugal italy ireland greece and spain which were the weakest economies in the eurozone during the european debt crisis at the time the acronym s five countries garnered attention due to their weakened economic output and financial instability which heightened doubts about the nations abilities to pay back bondholders and spurred fears that these nations would default on their debts 12understanding the piigsduring the u s financial crisis in 2008 the eurozone was comprised of 16 member nations that had adopted the use of a single currency the euro during the early 2000s fueled largely by an extremely accommodative monetary policy these countries had access to capital at very low interest rates 4inevitably this caused some of the weaker economies to borrow aggressively often at levels that they could not reasonably expect to pay back in the event of a financial shock the 2008 global financial crisis was this negative shock that led to economic underperformance which rendered them incapable of paying back the loans they had procured furthermore access to additional sources of capital also dried up 4since these nations used the euro as their currency they were unable to deploy independent monetary policies to help battle the global economic downturn that was triggered by the 2008 financial crisis to reduce speculation that the eu would abandon these economically disparaged countries european leaders approved a 750 billion euro stabilization package to support the piigs economies in 2010 5the piigs acronym is now considered derisive and is rarely used criticism of piigs acronymthe use of the acronym pigs and similar terms dates back to the late 1970s the first recorded use was in 1978 when it was used to identify the underperforming european countries of portugal italy greece and spain pigs ireland did not join this group until 2008 when the unfolding global financial crisis plunged its economy into an unmanageable level of debt 1some argue that the term highlights a return of colonial dynamics within the eurozone it links the stereotyped assumptions about the cultural characteristics of the people of portugal italy ireland greece and spain the use of the term potentially reinforces a perception of those people as lazy unproductive corrupt and or wasteful the roots of these stereotypes harken back to the anti irish and anti mediterranean racism of the british and ottoman empires 2current status of the eurozone economiesthe economic troubles of portugal italy ireland greece and spain reignited debate about the efficacy of the single currency employed among the eurozone nations by casting doubts on the notion that the european union can maintain a single currency while attending to the individual needs of each of its member countries critics point out that continued economic disparities could lead to a breakup of the eurozone 3 in response eu leaders proposed a peer review system for approval of national spending budgets to promote closer economic integration among eu member states 6on june 23 2016 the united kingdom voted to leave the eu brexit which many cited as a result of growing unpopularity toward the eu concerning issues such as immigration sovereignty and the continued support of member economies suffering through prolonged recessions this has resulted in higher tax burdens and depreciation of the euro 78while political risks associated with the euro brought to the fore by brexit remain the debt problems of countries at the european periphery have lightened in recent years reports in 2018 have pointed to improved investor sentiment toward the nations as evidenced by greece s return to the bond markets in july 2017 and increased demand for spain s longest term debt 9