The Collapse of a Nation

We’re seeing a lot of “is the euro crisis over?” stories pop up in the press lately (or rather, again).  The sensible responses are “no” and “which euro crisis?”

Presumably, this burst of enthusiasm derives in part from Mario Draghi’s announcement to (sort of) commit to (sort of) unlimited bond purchases.  But even if you think, optimistic reader that you are, that this will (sort of) rein in the periphery’s galloping borrowing costs and forestall an immediate breakup of the eurozone (at least until next month), that would just leave us with a slightly smaller pile of crises—including a crippling growth crisis.

For Greece in particular, to declare its crisis “over” requires a serious dose of lowered expectations:

The unemployment rate currently stands at 23.5 percent, wages and salaries have shrunk by as much as 30 percent, a series of pension cuts has been implemented (the latest proposal is to cut up to 600 euros per month from individual pension checks!), hospital operating expenses have been reduced by half, and the education budget has been hit so hard that many schools throughout the country operated without heating oil last winter.

If you want to know what it looks like when a national crisis isn’t over, read more here.