Editor's note: this is a guest post penned by Sean Randolph, senior director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, which earlier appeared in The Wilson Quarterly.
Long before the words “Grexit” or “Brexit” entered the popular lexicon, the economic news out of Europe was difficult.
Since the 2008–9 recession, Eurozone countries have been treading water, bobbing up and down in the wake of the economic storm: falling into recession in spring 2008, rising out in spring 2009; falling again in late 2011, rising again to growth of 1 to 1.5 percent in 2014 and 2015. Across the Eurozone, success is piecemeal and has varied by region and country.