Pantheon wrote on Oct 13
th, 2014 at 2:45pm:
After five years of financial crisis, the European record is in: Northern Europe is sound, thanks to austerity, while southern Europe is hurting because of half-hearted austerity or, worse, fiscal stimulus. The predominant Keynesian thinking has been tested, and it has failed spectacularly.
The starkest contrasts are Latvia and Greece, two small countries hit the worst by the crisis. They have pursued different policies, Latvia strict austerity, and Greece late and limited austerity. Latvia saw a sharp gross domestic product decline of 24 percent for two years, which was caused by an almost complete liquidity freeze in 2008. This necessitated the austerity that followed.
Yet Latvia’s economy grew by 5.5 percent in 2011, and in 2012 it probably expanded by 5.3 percent, the highest growth in Europe, with a budget deficit of only 1.5 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, Greece will suffer from at least seven meager years, having endured five years of recession already. So far, its GDP has fallen by 18 percent. In 2008 and 2009, the financial crisis actually looked far worse in Latvia than Greece, but then they chose opposite policies. The lessons are clear.
A successful stabilization program must appear financially sustainable so that it can restore confidence among creditors, businesses and people. Usually, a sound stabilization program can revive economic growth within two or three years, as Latvia’s did. A few rules of thumb need to be followed. Latvia did them all; Greece not at all.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2013-01-07/why-austerity-works-and-fiscal-stimulus-doesn-t
You've highlighted the reasons for disproving your own thesis.
Well done.
Two small countries with only goat cheese and olives to export... and people... and Northern Europe is doing well?
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21623675-growth-healthy-america-and-britai..."FOR the American and British economies it has been a long road out of the woods, but the journey is nearing its end. America’s unemployment rate fell below 6% in September. Britain’s economy, where output was up 3.2% in the year to June, is growing faster than any other big rich country’s. Central bankers are counting the days until they can raise interest rates.
Virtually everywhere else, however, the news is grim and getting grimmer. The euro zone, the world’s second-biggest economic area, seems to be falling from a feeble recovery back into outright recession as Germany hits the skids. Shockingly weak industrial production and export figures mean Germany’s GDP is likely to shrink for the second consecutive quarter—a popular definition of recession. Japan, the world’s third-biggest economy, may also be on the edge of a downturn, because April’s rise in the consumption tax is hurting spending more than expected. Russia’s and Brazil’s economies are stagnant, at best. Even in China, still growing at a suspiciously smooth 7.5% a year, there are worries about a property bust, a credit bubble and a fall in productivity (see article).
Such a lopsided world economy is unlikely to be stable. Either the weakness outside the Anglo-Saxon world proves temporary, or it will spook financial markets and darken the outlook everywhere. The conventional view is that global growth will strengthen in 2015 as America’s surge buoys other places, and as the recent weakness elsewhere proves temporary. The IMF reckons global growth will rise to 3.8% next year. This newspaper, however, is more worried on two counts. First, today’s weakness, especially in the euro area, could last longer than investors expect; and second, the lopsided growth could itself fuel destabilising shifts, particularly in the dollar.
Fearing the wurst
The euro area is in a far bigger mess than the headline figures suggest because its growth has long been flattered by Germany."
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