Playing catch-up: Europe needs to learn from previous crises

Why continent must not rest on its laurels

Preventing a major debt crisis will require governments to massively support economic growth. The US looks like it may be on the cusp of such a shift. And this time, Europe needs to overcome internal resistance.

The surge in fiscal deficits, and therefore national debt, agreed on by virtually all developed countries to counter the crash in economic output last spring has many observers worried, and rightly so. Yet those legitimate concerns should not distract us from a more immediate pitfall that we will need to get past so we can focus on the medium term. Delayed stimulus as imminent peril The imminent peril at hand has to do with the way proposed stimulus plans are already being watered down - out of an attachment to fiscal orthodoxy in Europe, or due to political gridlock in the US. A...