Fruitless austerity provoking anger

The ECB met in Spain without proposing any solutions for the crisis-ridden country, the left-liberal daily Le Monde writes, calling for a change of course in the direction of growth policy: "You can understand the anger of the Spanish, because many Europeans feel much the same way. Theoretically they've done everything right, fulfilled all the requirements. For 18 months they have been doing exactly what Berlin, Brussels and Frankfurt have stipulated: making drastic cuts in state expenditures, raising taxes, reforming the labour market and so on. ... And what are the results? So far nothing short of disastrous. ... Everywhere the feeling is spreading that the situation is extremely convoluted. So far no government has survived an election. ... As far as France is concerned we'll know more on that score on Sunday. So it's no wonder the mood is changing and people are saying that the most important thing isn't debt reduction but promoting growth. More growth will bring higher tax revenues that are necessary to service the public debt."

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