Friday, April 27, 2012

The Virtues Of Fiscal Austerity Debated In German Press

This article in Der Speigel provides the views of a wide spectrum of opinion found in the German press.  The opinions tend to reflect the political perspectives of the major papers.  The German Chancellor, however, remains firm in her belief that more debt will not solve the debt problem.  She has been supported in this view by the French President Sarkozy, who is behind in the polls to the socialist candidate in the May elections.

There is no easy solution to the crisis in the eurozone.  The structural problems inherent in the union were not easily perceived as long as the economy was doing well.  Unfortunately, the Irish and Spanish banks over invested in real estate.  The bursting of the real estate bubble led to recessions, budget deficits, and banking crises in both countries.  Their efforts to deal with their sovereign debt problems did little to solve the problem of slumping demand. Neither country is able to fix their banking crises without external support.  The amount of support that will be required in Spain will stretch the limits of the external support structures available to the government.

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