One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. Germany’s determination to impose a fiscal hair shirt on its eurozone partners did not work in the “stability and growth pact”. Is it going to work in the “treaty on stability, co-ordination and governance” agreed last week? I doubt it. The treaty reflects the view that the crisis was due to fiscal indiscipline and that the solution is more discipline. This is far from the whole truth. Rigorous application of such a misleading idea is dangerous.
精神失常的一個定義是，不斷重復同一件事，卻期待取得不同的結果。德國決心強令其歐元區伙伴國實施財政緊縮，它的愿望未能通過《穩定與增長公約》(stability and growth pact)實現。那么通過月初達成一致的《穩定、協調和治理條約》(Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance)，這個愿望就能實現嗎？對此我表示懷疑。新條約反映出一種觀點：目前的危機是財政紀律缺失的結果，因此解決方法是施以更嚴苛的財政紀律。這種觀點決非事實的全部真相。積極貫徹如此有誤導性的主張，是很危險的。