So much for Jeurgen’s legacy:

US Has an ‘Enormous’ Debt Problem: ECB Official

September 1 (CNBC) — A debt crisis is still gripping the developed world, European Central Bank policymaker Juergen Stark said, adding there was no alternative but for countries to take painful steps to consolidate their public finances.

“The crisis is not over. Not just in Europe is it not over, it is also not over in other regions of the world,” he said, adding the United States had an “enormous” debt problem and lacked the structures to get the problem under control.

Stark estimated the level of public debt at around 84 percent of gross domestic product for the euro zone and at a little below 100 percent of GDP for the US, according to Dow Jones newswire.

“Just consider what levels of debt we are passing on to future generations,” he said, according to DJ. “This isn’t responsible, politically, morally or ethically.”

Stark, a member of the ECB’s executive board, declined to discuss ECB monetary policy during a panel discussion at the Alpbach Forum economic conference on Thursday.