“Europe’s lack of growth could lead to Japanese-style stagnation”

From the UK press over the weekend:

Europe’s lack of growth could lead to Japanese-style stagnation

Which has the interesting subtitle: Europe’s lack of growth could lead to Japanese-style stagnation
The punishing austerity Germany demanded for rescuing the eurozone is creating a vicious cycle in which no one wins

It lists the woes of Europe at present (in summary):

• Berlin is locked in a cold war with Washington over America’s spying
• The transatlantic trade talks, on which the best hope for a revived US-Europe partnership depend, are in trouble
• The Ukraine crisis boils on
• In Germany, the Social Democrats, Merkel’s coalition partners, are putting the Christian Democrats under serious pressure
• Italy and France are sliding back into recession, while Germany’s own economy is rapidly slowing

More at the article (link above).