That, not austerity, is Greece’s real problem. If Greece had experienced the same growth in exports as Portugal (a country of similar size and per capita income), it would not have experienced such a deep recession, and tax revenues would have been higher, making it much easier for the government to achieve a primary budget surplus.
毫无疑问，希腊的贸易赤字有所下降，但这只是因为进口崩溃了。与此同时，出口却陷入了停滞，即便工资水平已经下跌了超过20%。也正是这一情况，而非紧缩政策，给希腊带来了真正的麻烦。如果希腊能实现葡萄牙（一个与其体量和人均收入都相近的国家）那样的出口增长，它不会出现如此深层次的衰退，而税收收入也会更高，令其政府可以更容易地实现基本预算盈余。