There are always many factors that affect growth, but the effect of the austerity measures on Greece was so severe that, as a matter of national income accounting, it is clear that the fiscal austerity drastically worsened and prolonged the country's recession.
The effect of the austerity has been to both severely limit the ability of the island's economy to recover -- it has an 11.7percentt unemployment rate, more than twice that of the mainland U.S. -- and hollow out key social services, like health care and education.
Above all, the effects of the austerity program on the most vulnerable will have to be mitigated in various ways, and the economy must be stimulated.
Fears are growing that once Greek society begins to feel the effects of the austerity measures, social unrest could unhinge a potential recovery or force the government to dilute some changes.
As Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz, an advisor to the Greek government in 2010, observed recently, the economic effects of the austerity program then imposed on Greece by the ECB, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund have been dismal.
The strain on the Greek public that has persisted for several years now has prompted academic discussion of the potential health effects of the austerity measures.
The optimistic cluster represents the sequence of Troika predictions for the effect of austerity programs on the Greek economy, forecasting recession and recovery.
This is a transformative time for gender relations in Ireland and, with a growing feminist movement spurred on by the effects of austerity, the complacency Murray notes characterised the 1990s looks unlikely.
The IMF also admits that it "underestimated" the effect austerity would have on Greece.
I've not seen any attempts to measure the impact on population health of public spending cuts in the UK (and please do point me in the direction of any) but an alarming report in the Lancet medical journal last month analysed the effects of austerity on the health of the Greek population.
