Not only have they enabled investors to avoid paying for their poor decisions; they have also given overpriced southern European countries the opportunity to defer real depreciation in the form of a reduction of relative prices of goods. This is necessary to restore the competitiveness that was destroyed in the euro’s initial years, when it caused excessive inflation.
这些援助计划减轻了欧元区的金融压力，但代价是高昂的。不但投资者避免了为糟糕决策买单，定价过高的南欧国家也获得了推迟实际贬值（通过降低商品的相对价格实现）的机会。这对于重建在欧元最初几年中因为使用欧元导致过度通胀而失去的竞争力来说是必不可少的。