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Fischer, Peter A.
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3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
No growth without austerity
The election results in France and Greece are being interpreted as a political mood swing against the tough austerity policy, but the liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung considers the hopes for growth without belt-tightening illusory: "Elected politicians from left to right would be well advised to recognise the laws of simple financial arithmetic. Just like private debtors, governments too can only spend more than they take in as long as someone is willing to finance this. … A return to a sound financial policy that deserves the confidence of investors is an indispensable requirement for growth. If Europe paralyses itself with ideological trench warfare and nationalist shadow-boxing its rivals in the East and West will be only too happy. A prosperous future can't be built on this basis. Europe urgently needs to confront the realities of its situation."
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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » France, » Greece, » Europe
Peter A. Fischer says Europe needs more austerity
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast 3.5 percent growth for the global economy in 2012. But while the emerging economies are growing rapidly the industrialised states are stagnating. Journalist Peter A. Fischer argues in the liberal-conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung that increasing spending won't revive the economy in Europe: "When states are battling a recession and are already spending less than they actually could, and when the possibilities for using monetary policy to counter the trend have all been exhausted then fiscal policy shouldn't also slow down growth, runs the argumentation. … But unfortunately this economic policy advice isn't helping Europe either right now. Most states here are suffering not from an economic deficit but from a credibility deficit. Their creditors doubt - quite rightly - that they will ever be able to recoup in full the money they have invested in government bonds. … Growth without austerity is therefore no longer an option in most EU countries. The priority now is to restore lost credibility."
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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economy, » Europe
State bankruptcy simply postponed
Going bankrupt now rather than later would have been better for both Greece and the Eurozone, writes the liberal-conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung, considering it likely "that the country will become insolvent and have to leave the Eurozone anyway in the not too distant future, but will only suffer unnecessarily in the meantime. Or that the Greek bailout will transform the Eurozone into a transfer union the survival of which will have to be guaranteed by increasingly large support payments without the disadvantaged regions finding a way out of their plight. Neither prospect is edifying. A solution which released Athens into insolvency, gave it the chance of genuine debt restructuring negotiations and led at least to the suspension of Greece's Eurozone membership would have been braver and more promising. But as things stand now the hope of Greece recovering is so tiny that it would be tantamount to a miracle if it did."
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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Europe
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