Each of the four largest euro-zone countries has serious structural problems

None of the four major euro-zone countries is immune to the presence of serious structural problems: Germany is suffering from the disappearance of the mercantilist model, which brought it growth, and from weak domestic demand; France is suffering from declining labour productivity, a low employment rate and, as a result, worsening public finances, and an inefficient education system; Spain is negatively affected by the decline in productivity, a low employment rate and an inefficient education system; as a result, the fairly strong growth seen in 2023 could only be transitory; Italy is suffering from a low employment rate, an inefficient education system and an extremely high fiscal deficit. These four countries will therefore have structurally weak growth: Some of them because of a lack of productivity gains (Germany, France, Spain ); All of them because of an inefficient education system (Germany, France, Spain, Italy ); Some of them because of a massive reduction in fiscal deficits to stabilise the public debt ratio (France, Italy ); Some of them because of a low employment rate and the effect this has on public finances (France, Spain, Italy ); Some of them because of their dependence on exports of goods (Germany).