The second path is to follow the German model of accelerating structural reforms and corporate restructuring to increase productivity growth while keeping wage growth moderate. But it took a decade for Germany to reduce its unit labor costs that way; if Greece or Spain were to start today, the short run costs of resource reallocation would be large, while the benefits in terms of higher growth would take too many years to achieve.
第二条路是学习德国的榜样，加快经济结构改革，推动企业转型，一方面提高生产率，另一方面把工资维持在适当水平上。不过德国用那种办法花了整整10年才降低了单位劳动成本，如果希腊或西班牙从现在开始改革，短期内将付出资源再配置的高昂成本，而要等到多年之后才能收获经济增长的果实，看来它们是等不起了。