Wednesday, March 6, 2013

For the Greek anti-austerians

We have quite a lot of anti-austerians and anti-"Merkelists"(sic) in Greece: and a good thing this is.
On the other hand some doubt the all round thinking of the anti-austerians. I don't and I think that they are ready to counter, point by point, Daniel Gros at Project Syndicate


Ten years ago, Germany was considered the sick man of Europe. Its economy was mired in recession, while the rest of Europe was recovering

A decade later, Germany is considered a role model for everyone else. 


In 2003, general government expenditure amounted to 48.5% of GDP, above the eurozone average. But expenditure was cut by five percentage points of GDP during the next five years.

during the euro’s first years, Germany was widely considered uncompetitive, owing to its high wage costs.

Germany did become competitive again – too competitive, according to some, owing to a combination of wage restraint and productivity-enhancing structural reforms.

high unemployment forced workers to accept lower wages and longer working hours, while wages continued to increase by 2-3% per year in the eurozone’s booming peripheral countries.


There is the Med way and there is the German way!

 

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