Inflicting excessive austerity on the southern European countries while limiting their exports by restricting effective demand in the north is like administering an overdose to a patient while withholding oxygen. The political and economic success of southern Europe’s much-needed structural reforms requires the proper dose and timing of budgetary medicine and buoyant demand in the north.
让南欧实施过度财政紧缩，同时又通过限制北欧有效需求束缚了它们的出口，这就好比是一边给病人过度用药，一边拔掉病人的氧气管。南欧所急需的结构性改革是否可以取得政治和经济上的成功，取决于改革剂量是否合理以及预算药方是否及时、北欧需求是否坚挺。