At the end of 2015, GDP per capita in Italy is projected to be 10.1 percent lower than seven years before; 4.2 percent lower in Spain; 3.4 percent lower in the Netherlands and 8.5 percent lower in Finland.1 At the aggregate level, the euro area output is now 20 percent below the level it would have achieved had the trend growth in the previous 15 years continued after 2007.
Fiscal Stability The fourth stability-related aspect in the euro area is the discipline of fiscal policies. The macroeconomic policies pursued in the euro area at present are, on the whole, more conducive to price stability, fiscal prudence and structural changes than at any time in the 1970s, 1980s or early 1990s.