Fundamental economic reforms are usually implemented only after a severe crisis, as was the case in Britain in the late 1970s, in Sweden and Finland in the early 1990s, and in Eastern Europe after the collapse of communism in 1989. The EU has wasted the opportunities afforded by the 2008 global financial crisis and the subsequent euro crisis.
根本性地经济改革通常只在严重的危机后施行，就像在1970年代末的英国，1990年代早期的瑞典和芬兰，1989年共产主义崩溃后的东欧。欧盟已经浪费了2008年全球金融危机和随后的欧元危机所带来的机会。相比通过艰难的改变来实现强劲复苏，欧洲的政策制定者却因为增加支出和债务而拖累了经济。