There is a vast difference between unit labor costs – real wages adjusted for productivity – in Germany and in the heavily indebted southern countries. When the crisis began, production costs in Greece were about 30% higher than in Germany, so Greece exported very little and imported very much.
滞后的原因不仅仅是需求低和债务高。德国和其他南欧重债国的单位劳动力成本——经生产率调整的真实工资——之间存在巨大差异。危机开始时，希腊生产成本比德国高约三成，因此希腊出口极少而进口极多。其他重债国的生产成本也比德国高20—25%。