"The Eurozone Is an Economic Basket Case."
Only part of it. Many describe the eurozone, the 17 countries that share the euro as a common currency, as an economic disaster. As a whole, however, it has lower debt and a more competitive economy than many other parts of the world. For example, the International Monetary Fund projects that the eurozone's combined 2013 government deficit as a share of GDP will be 2.6 percent -- roughly a third of that of the United States. Gross government debt as a percentage of GDP is around the same as in the United States and much lower than that in Japan.
Nor is Europe as a whole uncompetitive. In fact, according to the latest edition of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index, three eurozone countries (Finland, the Netherlands, and Germany) and another two EU member states (Britain and Sweden) are among the world's 10 most competitive economies. China ranks 29th. The eurozone accounts for 15.6 percent of the world's exports, well above 8.3 percent for the United States and 4.6 percent for Japan. And unlike the United States, its current trade account is roughly in balance with the rest of the world.
These figures show that, in spite of the tragically counterproductive policies imposed on Europe's debtor countries and despite whatever happens to the euro, the European economy is fundamentally sound. European companies are among the most successful exporters anywhere. Airbus competes with Boeing; Volkswagen is the world's third largest automaker and is forecast to extend its lead in sales over Toyota and General Motors in the next five years; and European luxury brands (many from crisis-wracked Italy) are coveted all over the world. Europe has a highly skilled workforce, with universities second only to America's, well-developed systems of vocational training, empowered women in the workforce, and excellent infrastructure. Europe's economic model is not unsustainable simply because its GDP growth has slowed of late.
The real difference between the eurozone and the United States or Japan is that it has internal imbalances but is not a country, and that it has a common currency but no common treasury. Financial markets therefore look at the worst data for individual countries -- say, Greece or Italy -- rather than aggregate figures. Due to uncertainty about whether the eurozone's creditor countries will stand by its debtors, spreads -- that is, the difference in bond yields between countries with different credit ratings -- have increased since the crisis began. Creditor countries such as Germany have the resources to bail out the debtors, but by insisting on austerity measures, they are trapping debtor countries like Spain in a debt-deflation spiral. Nobody knows whether the eurozone will be able to overcome these challenges, but the pundits who confidently predicted a "Grexit" or a complete breakup of the single currency have been proved wrong thus far. Above all, the eurocrisis is a political problem rather than an economic one.
Krafft Angerer/Getty Images
SUBJECTS:
