The latest mission of the IMF delegation to Bucharest seems to have finally sliced through the issue of the Government's attitude towards the anti-crisis measures. More than one year ago there were talks about a "safety belt". Now there are talks about extreme austerity measures required to avoid Romania's default. Faltering policies, the way in which Government members handled - as a group or individually -  public communication, decisions that seemed minor, but had a negative impact in the media - they all have given the impression that the economy and the public policies are two separate issues and that things can correct themselves: that public sectors may continue to survive without too much changes and that companies will gradually return to growth because their businesses have already been adjusted well enough.

But evidence shows that things are far from matching this description and that they cannot remain the same. On the one hand, reducing public expenditure was not sufficient and, on the other hand, sustaining the purchasing power by paying public employees' wages and social pensions through domestic and foreign loans contracted by the Government did not stimulate consumption, as it has been hoped - explicitly or not. Public investments have been sacrificed, private investments collapsed and official unemployment has exceeded 8%. In short, public policies didn’t prove their effectiveness when and where they were needed.