Almost four years since the start of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, the debate on the effectiveness of the eurozone response is still far from settled. In particular, economists disagree over whether too much emphasis was placed on fiscal consolidation. The austerians believe that urging countries to raise taxes and slash spending was essential to restore credibility and laid the foundations for a sustainable recovery. The critics – which include this newspaper – counter that imposing austerity in countries with fiscal leeway in a recession led to avoidable job losses and was ultimately counterproductive....
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