The European Commission’s top economists warned the politicians in the 1990s that the euro might not survive a crisis, at least in its current form. There is no EU treasury or debt union to back it up. The one-size-fits-all regime of interest rates caters badly to the different needs of Club Med and the German bloc.If the ECB didn’t raise rates between 2007 and 2008 (they did it eight times), it may have been possible to avert this crisis. But also consider that the crisis was worldwide and hit the USA probably just as hard. But the goals of the “euro fathers” have to be kept in mind here—this is all they are focused on right now, especially since welcoming a crisis is tantamount to an admission of deliberately causing said crisis.
The euro fathers did not dispute this. But they saw EMU as an instrument to force the pace of political union. They welcomed the idea of a “beneficial crisis”. As ex-Commission chief Romano Prodi remarked, it would allow Brussels to break taboos and accelerate the move to a full-fledged EU economic government. …
Well if this is supposed to be a controlled burn, good luck with that... When the flames start to spread they’ll go fast and in unpredictable directions...
Yes, that’s true. And they’ve been working hard to shove the entire “Europe” project down the throats of the Europeans.
I don’t think it will happen now. It seems clear than in any “Nation of Europe” Germans will be more equal than others and I just can’t see that selling.
They should use this crisis to devolve. Getting rid of the Euro parliament would save a bunch of dough at least.