The regular threats of hundreds of layoffs and severe program cuts this year brought numbed public reaction and here-we-go-again news coverage.
Unilever P.L.C., the world's leading maker of consumer goods that include supermarket mainstays like Dove soap, Ragu spaghetti sauce and Lipton tea, said today that it would embark on a severe program of corporate cutbacks, eliminating 25,000 jobs over five years, closing 100 factories and possibly jettisoning up to 75percentt of its products.
Despite the severe austerity program, the government led by Mr. Ansip remains popular.
A less severe austerity program, coupled with a lower interest rate on Greek bonds, would have made the Greek public debt much more sovereign.
Nevertheless, Britain has found back its way to growth, while Spain still tries to gather steam after its severe austerity program.
The details of those cuts — the most severe austerity program adopted by any British government since World War II — will be announced by George Osborne, chancellor of the Exchequer, in a House of Commons statement on Wednesday.
Speaking at a conference in Latvia, Mr. Asmussen noted that the Baltic country, which ties its currency closely to the euro, responded to a crisis in 2008 by pushing through a severe austerity program quickly and coupling it with economic overhauls.
All of which reflects an emerging view, although it has not yet been officially stated, that it makes little economic sense for the monetary fund and the European Union to keep lending money to Greece so that the government can pay back private investors at double-digit interest rates — especially as Greek citizens suffer the effects of a severe austerity program.
However, it took George less than a year to lose the confidence of the Greek people due to his severe austerity program as well as the undertaking of a €110 billion ($131 billion) bailout loan from the European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In response, President Obama has initiated several programs because the housing crisis handed to him was complex and severe.
A bigger-than-expected drop in German factory orders in August, according to data released Thursday, provided the latest evidence that the euro zone economy is headed for a downturn caused by severe austerity programs in countries like Spain, as well as the uncertainty created by the European government debt crisis.
