This year’s Rapporto Europa looks at the causes and consequences and remedies of austerity in the Euro Area. Austerity, we are told, is Europe’s newest curse. Austerity cuts budgets and prevents buying public goods; austerity lowers wages and pushes unemployment up; austerity, in other words, throws people into misery. Yet, we are also told, austerity is unavoid-able. Public and private debt are unsustainable, high wages have made Europe un-competitive and employment will only return when structural reforms will have made their effect and the economy found its balance again. Austerity is temporary.