Compounding this bleak outlook in the advanced economies and in the Eurozone in particular, is a banking sector under stress, characterised by shrinking lending or deleveraging, as they adjust to new regulatory requirements, amid increasing reluctance to lend outside their own countries.
The travails of the Eurozone are likely to last for some time, and it is ordinary people around the world who are suffering, who have lost their jobs and future dreams, and are losing confidence and trust in economic and political institutions.