Greek austerity: the end of the line

This was originally published on the NEF blog at: http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/entry/greek-austerity-the-end-of-the-line

This is not a Greek crisis. It is a European crisis, in two parts. First, the financial crash of 2008 provoked a global recession of exceptional severity. Combined with bailouts for the banks, this led to sharply increased debts and deficits for most large economies – including those in the Eurozone.