"Here are two interesting charts courtesy of the Macro Business Superblog. In outlining how the latest European crisis response policy fails to deal with the underlying issues in Euroland, Macro Business also illuminated the individual debt and deficit trajectory of each euro nation. The charts highlight where the euro area countries have broken the Maastricht stability and growth pact criteria.
Here’s what you should notice.
Here’s what you should notice.
- Deficits and debts skyrocketed as a direct result of the crisis. Only three tiny nations held their deficits to within the 3% SGP maximum: Estonia, Finland and Luxembourg. The other countries saw deficits increase due to the fall in aggregate demand. Of non periphery countries, France and Slovakia stand out here as having the highest deficits.
- The countries with the largest increase in debt as a percentage of GDP from 2000 to 2010 were Ireland, Portugal, and Greece, the main reason they were forced into IMF bailout packages. However beyond those three, the worst increase was in Germany and France..."
