One of a number of posters created by the Economic Cooperation Administration to promote the Marshall Plan in Europe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is an excellent MUST READ article published in the Wall Street Journal.

Austerity’s Not the Only Burden in Europe – WSJ.com.

For me, it confirms that the troika of the IMF, ECB, and EC have been myopic in dealing with the financial crisis in Southern Europe. Let’s recap on the context. Austerity is reducing demand and putting more people out of work, driving record numbers to suicide. Meanwhile, the banks in Southern Europe don’t or can’t lend to small businesses, the backbone of the economy. Clearly, massive investment is required into top-quality, properly costed and risk-assessed infrastructure projects to kick-start growth based on Keynesian principles. These national infrastructure projects will need to be financed by a new initiative, similar to the Marshall Plan that kick-started Germany’s growth after WWII.

Any thoughts?

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• How Austerity Kills – Some Reflections – John Gelmini
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• How the Case for Austerity Has Crumbled by Paul Krugman | The New York Review of Books
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