In fact, by yoking the new bond-buying measures to an IMF-brokered austerity programme, he could make the woes of those countries even worse. The experience of Greece has shown what lies ahead for Spain and Italy. Officials from Brussels and Washington will comb through their policies, urging them to sack more civil servants, push up taxes and privatise more public assets, and the resulting slump in demand will make their recessions even deeper and more painful for ordinary people.