The main reason the forecasts were so wrong is that those making them chronically underestimated the impact of government spending on the economy – especially when interest rates are near zero. And yet the clear failure of austerity to restart the economy in Greece or the rest of the eurozone has not caused policymakers to rethink their approach.
预测错得如此离谱，主要原因是一直在做预测的人低估了政府支出对经济的影响——特别是在利率接近于零的时候。而紧缩政策显然无法重新启动希腊和欧元区其他国家的经济，但这并没有促使决策者反思他们的方针。