Assemelham-se a um grupo de alpinistas. A imagem é de Satyajit Das:
Europe increasingly resembles a group of mountaineers roped together. As the members fall one by one, the survival of the stronger ones is increasingly threatened.O nosso colunista socorre-se de Tolstoi nestes tempos conturbados. Do Tolstoi de Ana Karenine.
Pois, a sabedoria do escritor vale também para os estados, e não apenas para as famílias infelizes, que sabemos, pela pena do grande romancista russo, que o são "cada uma à sua maneira". E o mesmo se passa com os estados da periferia do Euro:
Greece had a bloated public sector and an uncompetitive economy sustained by low Euro interest rates. Ireland suffered from excessive dependence on the financial sector, poor lending, a property bubble and an increasingly generous welfare state. Portugal has slow growth, anaemic productivity, large budget deficits and poor domestic savings. Spain has low productivity, high unemployment, an inflexible labour market and a banking system with large exposures to property and European sovereigns. Italy has low growth, poor productivity and a close association with the other peripheral European economies. Italy has recently started to rein in its budget deficit. The Italian banking system is relatively healthy but exposed to European sovereign debt. Belgium is really two ethnic groups that share a king and high levels of debt (about Euro 470 billion, 100% of GDP).Assolados pelo espectro do FMI e, pelo meio, ainda temos umas eleições presidenciais a roçar a quase irrelevância, com o candidato Manuel Alegre a empurrar-me para a abstenção. Pela primeira vez na vida. Mas há sempre uma primeira vez, não é?
PS. O artigo pode ser lido
aqui