Let me move on to my third and last thought. It concerns the post-crisis period. The industrialised countries are emerging from the crisis poorer, more indebted and with lower prospects for growth. The process of fiscal consolidation must remain the cornerstone of economic policy and form the basis for a radical overhaul of the economies in order to create more growth.
But in the current environment I see two risks facing our democracies in the coming years. The first one is the illusion that this crisis is cyclical rather than structural, that it has no impact on the long-term growth potential of our economies.