yves mersch : intergenerational justice in times of sovereign debt crises speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the minsky conference in greece, organised by the levy economics institute, athens, 8 november 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, the last time i gave a speech here in athens was in early january 2008. how much the world has changed since then. yet it has not always changed in the ways that observers predicted. i still remember clearly, in the early weeks of may 2010, the prophetic claims that greece would leave the euro area within weeks, that other countries would follow within months, and that the collapse of the euro would be complete before the year was out. those claims were wrong – and the greek people have played an important part in proving them so. since the loss of market access in early 2010, the greek people have made extraordinary efforts to refute the naysayers and turn the economy around. they have executed a fiscal adjustment of historic proportions and embarked on the difficult road of structural reforms. the results of these actions have accrued first and foremost to greece – but they have also accrued to the wider euro area. however, this turnaround is still only half complete. there is still much work to do. and what i would like to emphasise in my remarks today is that staying on the path of reform is essential not only for the citizens of today. it is also essential for those of tomorrow. like all western societies, and some rapidly ageing eastern ones, greece faces long - term fiscal challenges linked to high public debt levels and demographic developments. these challenges raise profound questions about intergenerational justice. and it is only through reforms that they can be answered in a fair way. for all ageing societies, this implies, first, ensuring sustainable public finances and, second, achieving stronger economic growth. both are necessary because they are mutually reinforcing : fiscal sustainability creates the stability and confidence necessary for future growth ; and higher growth creates the revenues and debt - to - gdp ratios necessary for fiscal sustainability. let me therefore deal with each in turn, starting with what is being done to ensure fiscal sustainability in the context of intergenerational justice. strengthening sustainability the fiscal challenges that greece is facing today, while more severe than others, are not unique to this country. all western societies are being confronted with difficult questions about the distribution of consolidation and spending between current and future generations.

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