ON Tuesday, the European Commission (EC) presented its new assessment of the European Union’s (EU) economic outlook. If one had been hoping for an encouraging reading, that wish was unfulfilled. The EC now forecasts an 8.3-percent drop in this year’s gross domestic product growth, and that is for the whole EU. By that forecast, the commission has actually revised the expectations further down from the previous 7.4-percent drop. It is the worst macroeconomic result since World War 2, and the expected rebound in the economy next year is also lowered from 6.1 to 5.8 percent, showing that the lost economic ground this year will not even be recovered next year.

Among the largest EU economies, Germany is doing best by only subtracting 6.3 percent due to the forecast from the EC. France’s economy is expected to lose 7.6 percent, Spain with -10.9 percent, and Italy with the worst result, at 11.2 percent — these are massive

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