The euro-zone economy The long road back

AT LONG last the second leg of the euro area's double-dip recession seems to have come to an end. In the second quarter of this year, the euro zone grew by 0.3%, or a 1.2% annual pace. That marked the first rise in output since the third quarter of 2011. Olli Rehn, vice-president of the European Commission noted that "self-congratulatory statements suggesting 'the crisis is over' are not for today", though he also mused that the figure "supports, in my view, the fundamentals of our crisis response". Here is a bit of context—the path of real GDP for America and Britain since the fourth quarter of 2007: