The common interpretation in Germany that it is essentially a sovereign debt crisis can only be explained by an ideologically constrained perspective.
The shaping of economic arrangements was driven by political forces acting on behalf of corporate and financial elite interests, but economic ideas also played a critical role.
The average rate of economic growth is the key.
Swimming against the tide in two critical areas: Social Security and labor policy.
All countries with a deficit in the current account balance have also relevant deficits in the public budgets.