FRANKFURT — Citizens from Prague to Paris to Amsterdam have made it abundantly clear the last few days that they are tired of the economic austerity forced on them by the euro zone debt crisis.

But as the budget-cutting pain of reduced government benefits and social services brings protesters to the streets and drives support for nationalist or far-left parties, it is not clear what the economic alternative might be. Rejecting austerity budgets in favor of more government spending will not automatically ensure economic growth, many economists say.

“The last thing these economies need is a debt-financed stimulus program,” said Jörg Krämer, the chief economist of Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

Governments in countries like Spain are having enough trouble financing their existing debt, much less coming up with money for stimulus spending. Germany, the only large country in the euro zone with budgetary room to increase its deficit by spending more, is not willing to. (And neither was the Netherlands, at least until its government collapsed Monday over a dispute that essentially involves the austerity vs. growth debate.)