Could Europe’s most troubled countries end up better off than
the US and Japan?  A more dynamic future for the euro zone?
Berenberg Bank / The Lisbon Council  As European leaders bicker
today over how to help Greece get back on its feet, one report
says Greece and other troubled euro-zone countries are at least
doing something right. The Lisbon Council and Berenberg Bank
said in a study (pdf) just out that euro-zone countries hardest
hit by the crisis were shaping up the fastest by aggressively
slashing fiscal deficits and improving competitiveness. The
current recession has obscured their progress, but if they can
get through the financial crisis—which for some of them, is a
big if—they’ll be in good shape.  Many eurozone members are
going through a wave of sweeping structural and fiscal reforms
while the region as a whole is strengthening its governance
structure. At the same time, other even more heavily indebted
major economies such as the US and Japan are not. If the
eurozone gets through the current acu