Spanien og Grækenland

Det er rart, at de danske dagblade i det mindste er begyndt at snakke om euroen. Bedre end ingenting. Berlingske og JP siger selvfølgelig, at det er græsk overforbrug. Det er for så vidt rigtigt, at det er det, der har sat skub i krisen, men som Krugman siger, så er den også ved at være gal med Spanien, og de har ikke opført sig skidt i det sidste årti. Tværtimod sparede de op.

Krugman (og Atrios) har det med at undervurdere betydningen af gæld ift. valutaers indbyrdes værdi, men altså, læs ham idag. Det essentielle:

The fact is that three years ago none of the countries now in or near crisis seemed to be in deep fiscal trouble. Even Greece’s 2007 budget deficit was no higher, as a share of G.D.P., than the deficits the United States ran in the mid-1980s (morning in America!), while Spain actually ran a surplus. (...)

The deficit hawks are already trying to appropriate the European crisis, presenting it as an object lesson in the evils of government red ink. What the crisis really demonstrates, however, is the dangers of putting yourself in a policy straitjacket. When they joined the euro, the governments of Greece, Portugal and Spain denied themselves the ability to do some bad things, like printing too much money; but they also denied themselves the ability to respond flexibly to events.

 Euroen skal opløses. Nogen bliver nødt til at lave en køreplan. Merkel? Quo vadis?