FT - The limits to all-out unforgiving austerity are ever sharper to read

The political speech across the Eurozone has witnessed a change from austerity into something as yet undefined.
There is no doubt Mr. Hollande's rise to power a year ago has put additional weight into the anti-austerity argument. This is as much about France's own predicament as it is about austerity fatigue starkly felt in bailed-out countries whose desired outcomes are far from clear.

It is of course an uphill struggle to right public accounts when economies contract sharply over consecutive years. Vague promises of economic growth resuming into the future hardly find believers amongst a discredited lot having to make do with ever higher levels of multiple uncertainty.

Europe, the European Union and the Eurozone are facing very challenging times indeed.
Broadly, a multiple whammy has hit the old continent's economy, social set-up and ways that most politicians look utterly dejected when not awkward simply trying to cope. If at all they realize the underlying causes and trends. Because more than a few structural issues are not being discussed out in the open or perhaps even behind closed doors.

I do not see an upbeat path forward for every nation sharing the single currency - that which is a precondition to any successful monetary union - unless an emboldened deal is achieved at European level. Sooner rather than later.
The ultimate objective being to resume and sustain economic growth and employment across every country from north to south, west to east of the Eurozone, the European Union, Europe.

The time is now to find a workable replacement to austerity without upsetting public accounts.