And in other member states, too, sovereign debt is well above annual economic output. Against that backdrop, reducing government debt has to be an urgent necessity. The associated course of fiscal consolidation has come in for some criticism, however. It is argued that, especially in a crisis, too many austerity measures place an unnecessary drag on the economy.
However, a distinction has to be made at this point: in the long term, sound government finances are good for the economy – no-one disputes that. In the same way, noone disputes that austerity measures can dampen economic activity in the short term. But we should look beyond the present moment and, above all, not confuse cause and effect.