Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz says hedge fund legend George Soros was overly optimistic when he said over the weekend that the eurozone has three months to get its house in order.

“I think he’s being [too] generous,” the Columbia University economics professor tells Yahoo.

Europe has been doing "just enough to keep things going," says. "The question is: are they at the point where there's no extra dose of medicine that can keep it going? I think they're almost there."

Editor's Note: How You Lost $85,000 During the Last Decade. See the Numbers.

Part of the problem is that European policymakers don’t comprehend the gravity of the situation, Stiglitz says. "They don't understand the dynamics of market forces."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that her country is willing to support the use of all existing instruments to buoy the eurozone.

Stiglitz says, “I would begin by reversing the policies of austerity.” Austerity has historically turned recessions into depressions, he says.

As for beleaguered European banks, “there’s only one solution,” Stiglitz says. “You have to have a unified banking system for the whole euro area. If they don't do that, the system falls apart fairly quickly."

Others see a need for more European coordination too.

“The strategy of plugging holes only works for so long,” Friedrich Mostbock, chief economist at Erste Group, tells The New York Times. “Eventually you come to the point where a common euro area requires a common fiscal policy.”

Editor's Note: How You Lost $85,000 During the Last Decade. See the Numbers.