Euroshock: How the Largest Debt Restructuring in History Helped Save Greece and Preserve the Eurozone

The inside story of the unprecedented restructuring of Greece’s debt in 2012—the largest restructuring in history—and how the Eurozone was stabilized and Greece was saved from exit from the Euro and economic calamity. One of the Financial Times Best Summer Books of 2024 in Economics.

In the fall of 2009, the world economy was beginning to recover from the global financial crisis that had shaken global markets and had led to a sharp recession. At the same time, Europe was entering a new phase of economic stress.

By the spring of 2011, the European economy had exploded into a full-blown crisis with Greece at the center. The euro, a currency just over a decade old, was under severe pressure and there was growing speculation about Greece leaving the Eurozone and thereby fracturing the common currency, leading potentially to an unraveling of the euro.

Against this backdrop, urgent negotiations were launched to pull Greece and Europe back from the brink of disaster. This is the inside story of those negotiations.

Charles Dallara is a highly experienced international economist who has spent much of his career dealing with sovereign debt and global financials issues. In 2011 and 2012, he led private creditors in negotiating a restructuring of Greek debt—the largest in history. Dallara is currently an Advisory Partner and Chairman of the Board of Partners Group USA, a global private markets investment firm.