Rich countries don't need austerity measures

Austria's National Council, the lower house of the Austrian parliament, will debate the decisions taken at the EU summit and the enshrining of a debt brake in the country's constitution in a special session today, Wednesday. But rather than government cutbacks what is needed is a wage policy that is tailored to the real productivity of individual countries, the left-liberal daily Der Standard writes: "We, the Austrians, and above all the Germans, have a trade surplus vís-a-vís other EU countries. So in total we and the Germans have produced more than we have consumed and invested. We have lived below rather than beyond our means. However the monetary union can only be stable if everyone lives precisely according to their means. Not primarily for reasons of fairness but rather to ensure the EU's stability, higher wage agreements are essential in Austria and Germany. Otherwise a European disaster will be inevitable."

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