But these countries real economies would benefit from a furlough from the eurozone. Depreciation inside the eurozone in the form of deflation, on the other hand, would drive large parts of the real economy into excessive debt, because only the value of assets, not that of bank debts, would decline.

Moreover, the total effect on labor income the product of jobs times hours worked times average hourly wages has been more severe than that implied by the job losses alone, because many firms are cutting their workers hours, placing them on furlough, or lowering their wages as a way to share the pain.