Austerity Measures in Crisis Countries

Results and Impact on Mid-term Development

with contributions from Vassilis Monastiriotis, Niamh Hardiman, Aidan Regan, Chiara Goretti, Lucio Landi, J. Ignacio Conde-Ruiz, Carmen Marín, Ricardo Cabral

Volume 48, January/February 2013, No. 1

Since the onset of the sovereign debt crisis, the crisis-stricken countries in Europe have been pushed to take drastic steps to consolidate their finances and reduce their budget deficits. Despite strong public opposition and largely damaging short-run effects, the countries have undertaken many of the internationally recommended/mandated reforms and spending cuts. In this Forum, authors from Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal report on the fiscal consolidation achieved in their respective countries - and the sacrifices that have made it possible. Furthermore, the authors detail what remains to be done to resolve the crisis.