With austerity failing, Europe turns its focus toward growth - by Jay Bryan

It's been arguably the most serious danger hanging over global financial markets for more than two years, and now there are signs that it's getting worse. Or, if we're lucky, maybe a lot better.

As if to emphasize the difficulties of slashing your way back to economic health, even Britain learned that it had fallen into a double-dip recession, joining much of continental Europe. As a non-member of the eurozone, the U.K. has its own, ultra-easy, monetary policy, but even this seems unable to offset the drag from a budget cutting government.

That's the bad news. But there's good news too, and it's probably more important.
It's that all this bad news has finally begun to convince skeptical political leaders and, maybe more important, bond-buying financial executives, that austerity isn't the best route to debt reduction.
"The tide is certainly shifting," says investment adviser Peter Berezin, managing editor of the Bank Credit Analyst.

"Markets now seem to understand that austerity damages growth. The view has shifted from a very firm focus on cutting to a focus on growth." Berezin sees this not only in the lack of a positive reaction when new austerity measures are announced, but also in comments from clients.

Note EU-Digest: Austerity which benefits only corporations and the wealthy while it makes "Joe Bloke" the tax payer pay the bill won't work. In America the Republicans and T-Party will also figure this out eventually.

For more: With austerity failing, Europe turns its focus toward grow