What was the beginning year of the European debt crisis that particularly affected Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain?
PIGS (economics) PIGS or PIIGS or PIIGGS is an acronym used in economics and finance. The PIGS acronym originally refers, often derogatorily, to the economies of the Southern European countries of Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. During the European debt crisis, the term was also increasingly used to refer to the economies of Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, four EU member states that were unable to refinance their government debt or to bail out over-indebted banks on their own during the crisis.
Europeans for Financial Reform Europeans for Financial Reform (EFFR) is a coalition dedicated to effecting reform in the financial and banking sectors. EFFR was created in Brussels on September 21, 2009, just over a year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the beginning of the financial crisis.