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This lack of growth is the heart of the problem: the south is being subjected to self-defeating austerity, which drives economies down, makes it harder to close deficits and raises debt. The bigger the debt burden—which exceeds 100% of GDP in Greece, Italy, Ireland and Portugal—the more important the gap between interest rates and growth becomes, and that gap widens when economies are shrinking. In such circumstances the growth in the stock of debt can accelerate even if deficits are shrinking.