True stimulus would leave the left turned off

The global economic and financial crisis that began in mid-2007 when the US sub-prime crisis burst on to the global agenda has taken many twists and turns and has had many mutations over the past five years.

The crisis has exposed serious flaws at the heart of the European economic and political project and the future of one of its most important aspects — the single currency — has come under serious threat. This threat has certainly been heightened by political events in France and Greece over the past week. Everything is now to play for in terms of the euro surviving in its current form.

The simple facts are that some members of the eurozone have excessive levels of government debt which have become unsustainable. The region is also characterised by sluggish economic growth and elevated levels of unemployment. The eurozone economy is expected to contract 0.5% this year and the unemployment rate has climbed to an average of 10.9% of the labour force, with the Spanish rate just south of 25%.