Andrew Watt sums up the summer

Good summary of the Summer by Andrew Watt:
"La Rentrée is upon us. The summer, such as it was, is over. Time to reflect. It’s Friday, late and I am tired. Fortunately I can be very, very brief. Four things are important to grasp.
  1. The European economy and, more  latterly, its labour market had begun a recovery that was, overall, sluggish, and uneven between countries. But it was a start. Unemployment was falling slowly.
  2. In the course of the summer that recovery was aborted. We now face economic stagnation. If not worse. Unemployment is rising.
  3. The prime causes of the set-back were four. Inadvisable premature monetary tightening.  Inadvisable premature fiscal tightening.  The failure of policy makers to get a manageable sovereign debt crisis under control early. And, less importantly, external ‘shocks’ such as high energy prices and weaker demand growth in Japan and the US.
  4. Three out of four wounds were self-inflicted by European policymakers. Nice work guys and girls! Progressive economists warned about the dangers of premature tightening and argued for a different approach. They were ignored.La Rentrée is upon us. The summer, such as it was, is over. Time to reflect. It’s Friday, late and I am tired. Fortunately I can be very, very brief. Four things are important to grasp.
    1. The European economy and, more  latterly, its labour market had begun a recovery that was, overall, sluggish, and uneven between countries. But it was a start. Unemployment was falling slowly.
    2. In the course of the summer that recovery was aborted. We now face economic stagnation. If not worse. Unemployment is rising.
    3. The prime causes of the set-back were four. Inadvisable premature monetary tightening.  Inadvisable premature fiscal tightening.  The failure of policy makers to get a manageable sovereign debt crisis under control early. And, less importantly, external ‘shocks’ such as high energy prices and weaker demand growth in Japan and the US.
    4. Three out of four wounds were self-inflicted by European policymakers. Nice work guys and girls! Progressive economists warned about the dangers of premature tightening and argued for a different approach. They were ignored."

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