Jerome Levy Report Suggests European Recovery Is Not Sustainable; European Central Bank Agrees

A report by the Jerome Levy Forecasting Center suggests that while Europe may be showing signs of a second-half recovery, it will not be enough to pull the euro zone out of a 19-month recession.

“There is little reason to expect a sustained expansion, even a slow one, under present policies and conditions,” read the report released Friday.

The report suggests that the recent resurgence may be due to variations in inventory changes and by capital spending across the 17 euro zone countries, but, according the report, doubts have been cast on effectiveness and long-term recovery.

The Levy report comes on the back of the European Central Bank’s recent forecast that the euro zone will shrink by 0.6 percent in the coming six months. However, the ECB also predicts that a 1 percent growth will occur in 2014.