Less austerity, while not a sustainable growth strategy, may ease the pain of adjustment. That, in a nutshell, is the fundamental eurozone dilemma: the periphery needs financing as it adjusts, while Germany, pointing to the post-euro experience, says that it cannot trust countries to reform once they get the money.
对竞争力低下的欧元区国家来说，结构性改革已不能再拖了。但是，由于必须做出的调整规模太大，马上做好一切事情——包括痛苦的财政紧缩——在政治上并不可行。更少紧缩尽管布什可持续增长战略之道，但或能减轻调整的痛苦。一句话，这就是欧元区所面临的基本难题：外围国的调整需要融资，而德国根据后欧元时代的经验，认为这些国家拿到钱之后才不会进行改革。