The earthy case, seldom made clearly in polite company, was that the countries in southern Europe spent too much, taxed too little, and thus borrowed in excess. So long as they could finance deficits by printing a local currency and devaluing it from time to time, they would stick to their free-spending ways.
从俗案角度讲——很少以礼貌的方式争论——问题在于南欧国家支出太多、征税太少，因此借贷过度。只要它们能够随时印制本币和贬值为债务融资，它们就会继续维持自由支出模式。只有欧元和法兰克福货币政策当局能够在纪律上约束它们。