FOR much of the past five or so years, the euro area has been suffering from a toxic combination of economic, financial and political ailments, making it the main source of fragility in the global economy. That honour has now passed to emerging markets. Yet their difficulties are likely to impede what has in any case been an insipid recovery, making it harder for the euro zone to clamber out of deflation.
The European Central Bank (ECB) was not expected to announce extra monetary stimulus when its governing council met in Malta on October 22nd (after The Economist had gone to press). But many economists think it will act within a few months, maybe as early as December. The ECB’s most likely response would be to extend its programme of quantitative easing (QE)—creating money to buy mainly public assets—beyond September 2016, when it is currently scheduled to end.
Until clouds gathered over China and emerging markets over the summer, the economic weather had appeared to be brightening. The euro zone’s output grew at an average rate of 0.4% a quarter...Continue reading
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