Europe’s Economic Laggards Have Become Its Leaders
Summary
Something extraordinary is happening to the European economy: Southern nations that nearly broke up the euro currency bloc during the financial crisis in 2012 are growing faster than Germany and other big countries that have long served as the region’s growth engines. Just over a decade ago, Southern Europe was the center of a eurozone debt crisis that threatened to pull apart the bloc of countries that use the euro. It has taken years to recover from deep national recessions and multibillion-dollar international bailouts with harsh austerity programs. Since then, the same countries have worked to mend their finances, attracting investors, reviving growth and exports, and reversing record-high unemployment. It has been struggling to pull itself out of a slump set off by soaring energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.