http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/german-press-says-extended-eu-recession-shows-austerity-ineffective-a-900252.html
Japan can finally breathe a sigh of relief. After more than a decade of economic stagnation, the country's economy is growing again, fuelled by the massive stimulus measures taken by new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
But the Japanese curse has not been eradicated. Many economists say it has merely moved. To Europe. And economic data released on Wednesday will have done little to counter that conviction.
The European Union statistics office on Wednesday noted that nine of 17 euro-zone member states are now in recession, with France being the newest significant member of that club. Furthermore, the common currency zone, with bloc-wide declines in economic output for six straight quarters, is now struggling through its longest recession ever, worse even than the downturn in the immediate wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
The contraction was not huge; the euro-zone economy shrank by just 0.2 percent in the first three months of this year. And the German economy narrowly avoided recession, posting growth of 0.1 percent. But the situation in large economies such as Italy and Spain, both of which saw contractions of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, is worrisome.
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