Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz writes regarding macropolicy in Greece,Austerity is largely to blame for Greece’s current depression — a decline of gross domestic product of 25 percent since 2008,...

Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz writes regarding macropolicy in Greece,Austerity is largely to blame for Greece’s current depression — a decline of gross domestic product of 25 percent since 2008, an unemployment rate of 25 percent and a youth unemployment rate twice that. But this new program ratchets the pressure up still further: a target of 3.5 percent primary budget surplus by 2018 (up from around 1 percent this year). Now, if the targets are not met, as they almost surely won’t be because of the design of the program itself, additional doses of austerity become automatic. It’s a built-in destabilizer…None of this makes sense even from the perspective of the creditors. It’s like a 19th-century debtors’ prison. Just as imprisoned debtors could not make the income to repay, the deepening depression in Greece will make it less and less able to repay. (Stigliz, “Greece the Sacrificial Lamb”, International New York Times) Comment Briefly: Agree, Disagree. Explain. ?