Croissance ou austérité ? La question n’est pas si simple

Infographie : François Descheemaekere

Growth or Austerity? The Question Isn’t That Simple

[The New York Times]

Fierce debate is growing in Europe over whether austerity or economic growth offers the best strategy to overcome the Continent’s sovereign debt crisis. As if it were that simple.

As the euro zone hovers on the brink of its second recession in three years, the battle being waged in academic journals, blogs and the financial media has spread to the hustings in France and Greece and will soon move to Germany, the European Union’s economic powerhouse. “Europe can’t cut and grow,” Sony Kapoor, head of the Re-Define research institute, and Peter Bofinger, a member of the German Council of Economic Advisers, said in an article published before E.U. leaders adopted a budget discipline pact last month. “The E.U. needs a growth compact, not a fiscal one. Swift action on tax and jobs is the way out of the crisis.”
The growth camp argues that synchronized austerity across Europe will only aggravate economic contraction, swell the ranks of the unemployed and make it harder for debt-laden countries to reduce their deficits and restore market confidence.
Lire : nytimes.com