Southern Europe's economic depression deepens
Southern Europe`s economic depression deepens. In Spain, 6.2 million people ` a record 27 per cent of the labour force ` can`t find a job. Greece`s unemployment rate is even higher, 27.2 per cent; in Italy, it`s 11.6 per cent. For young people, the jobless rates are double or, in the case of Italy, triple that. Clearly, economic growth is urgently needed, lest a generation of Europeans be forced either to emigrate or to waste their prime earning years ` to say nothing of a prolonged slump`s implications for democracy and political stability.
Yet in a recent visit to Washington, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, whose government pretty much calls the shots in Europe, defended the current policy ` which he described as "force member states, oblige member states, to stick to European rules, to reduce deficits in a, of course, balanced way, to enhance their competitiveness by structural reforms," until "European mechanisms" buy enough time for them to regain access to financial markets. Schaeuble added, in words that must chill the heart of every young job-seeker from Bilbao to the Balkans, "No one should expect that Europe will deliver high growth rates in the coming years."
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