The absence of national adjustment tools is the reason why Eurozone countries continue to struggle

The Eurozone continues to experience low growth, while unemployment remains a substantial problem in several European states. Alison Johnston and Aidan Regan write that despite these issues, the European policy response has remained broadly similar since the crisis: reducing public spending and imposing structural reforms in periphery states to try and improve their competitiveness. They argue that there are far more fundamental problems in the Eurozone and that one potential way to solve these would be to encourage wage rises in northern economies such as Germany.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Berlin-Paris tensions re-emerge as ECB ponders stimulus http://www.europeansources.info/record/berlin-paris-tensions-re-emerge-as-ecb-ponders-stimulus/

EUObserver, 22.09.14: ECB ready to use more 'unconventional tools' to spur economy http://euobserver.com/economic/125719

ESO: Background information: Monetary policy decisions, September 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/monetary-policy-decisions-september-2014/

EurActiv, 22.09.14: Germany: ‘We have no interest in humiliating the French’ http://www.euractiv.com/sections/eu-priorities-2020/germany-we-have-no-interest-humiliating-french-308602

---