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Sunday, May 18, 2014

The eurozone's problems have not gone away, and elections won't change much

Mainstream parties will still be in charge, and Europe will condemn itself to an even longer period of economic stagnation

Europe goes to the polls this week and the mood is sour. It is sour among voters and it is sour in the markets, where the sell-off at the end of last week was prompted by fears that the election results would open a new chapter in the eurozone crisis.

This looks all too likely. Despite all the bullish talk in recent months, the problems of the eurozone have not gone away. The single currency's weaker members, such as Greece, Spain and Italy, found it easier for a while to sell their bonds at lower interest rates. But that was largely due to the generosity of the Federal Reserve, which flooded the global economy with dollars through its quantitative easing programme.

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READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com