European spring why our economies and politics are in a mess and how to put them right by philippe legrain add comments britain and the rest of europe are in a mess. European spring why our economies and politics are in a mess and how to put them right by philippe legrain cb books rrp1299 1226 anyone who has worked in brussels for an eu institution . European spring why our economies and politics are in a mess economic fundamentals such as spain and italy would be allowed to shift losses on the private sector as a result the crisis spilled over to other countries and european government bond yields continued to soar raising the possibility of grexit was a bad decision. European spring why our economies and politics are in a mess and how to put them right adding in the rise of xenophobic parties and the return of racist national stereotypes to political discourse he paints a far from rosy picture. Philippe legrain is the author of european spring why our economies and politics are in a mess and how to put them right from 2011 to 2014 he was economic adviser to european commission president jos manuel barroso