The Eurozone Crisis And The Future Of Europe

The authors uncover the roots of the eurozone crisis, focusing on how this can be solved against the backdrop of a very deep financial and economic crisis and its strong social impact. Looking at the impact of the financial crisis on the eurozone, they explore the European Union's recent and future developments.

'The Future of the Euro' is an attempt by political economists to analyse the fundamental causes of the euro crisis, determine how it can be fixed, and consider what likely futures lie ahead for the currency. The book makes three interrelated arguments that emphasize the primacy of political over economic factors. It concludes that any successful long-term solution to the euro's predicament must start with the political foundations of markets.

Can the eurozone’s emergence from crisis turn into a real economic recovery and a new vision for Europe’s future? Or is Europe heading for a “lost decade” in terms of growth and a rise in old style nationalism? Kemal Derviş and Jacques Mistral have assembled an international group of economic analysts who provide perspectives on the most audacious supranational governance experiment in history. Will the crisis mark the end of the dream of “ever closer union” or lead to a renewed impetus to integrate, perhaps taking novel forms? Among the key issues explored are the · Onset, evolution, and ramifications of the euro crisis from the perspective of three countries especially hard hit—Greece, Italy, and Spain. · Concerns, priorities, and issues in France and Germany, the couple that has so far always driven European integration. · Effects and lessons in two key policy areas: banking union and social policies. The volume concludes with a possible renewed vision for the EU in the 2020s, including much greater political integration but where some countries may keep their national currencies and share less of their sovereignty. It is a vision of two Europes within one, ready for the twenty-first century.

A major collection of essays by a multidisciplinary panel of experts exploring the various interpretations of the European crisis and the future of the European Union.

This book examines the Eurozone crisis in light of theoretical and empirical evidence. The first half explores specific theoretical contributions within a framework of growth theory models to examine the two major pillars of the European construction, the European Central Bank and the Maastricht Treaty, and seeks to explain why they are theoretically wrong. The second half presents results of counterfactual simulations using the Oxford Econometric model and estimates what the Eurozone has lost in terms of economic and social cost from 2002 to 2014 as a consequence of the super-evaluation of the Euro and the Maastricht Treaty parameters being mistakenly fixed and pursued. Finally, the author supports the urgent need to refund the European Union, up-dating The Maastricht Treaty and the ECB statute to build three concentric circles: the USE (United States of Europe), the EU (European Union), the EAFTDA (Europe/Africa Free Trade and Development Area).

Europe is stumbling from crisis to crisis. The financial and debt crises are endangering the European currency union; referenda in several EU countries show widespread Euroscepticism; the economy is only slowly regaining momentum; unemployment remains high in many Member States; and the refugee crisis has deepened political divisions. We need an answer to the question of how to rescue the Euro and keep Europe together. In this volume, renowned German researchers and leading practitioners provide pragmatic recommendations. Their plea for a democratically legitimized Euro Finance Minister, a new economic approach, a common Eurozone budget, and minimum social standards are the prerequisites for a fair, stable, and prosperous Europe.

"In 2010, the 2008 global financial crisis morphed into the 'eurocrisis'. It has not abated. The 19 countries of the Eurozone have been rocked by economic stagnation and debt crises. Some of them have been in depression for years while the governing powers of the Eurozone have careened from emergency to emergency, most notably in Greece. Hailed by its architects as a lever that would bring Europe together and promote prosperity, the common currency has actually done the opposite. In The Euro, Nobel prize-winning economist and bestselling author Joseph E. Stiglitz dismantles the prevailing consensus around what ails Europe, demolishing the champions of austerity while offering a series of plans that can rescue the continent from further devastation. As Stiglitz persuasively argues, Europe's stagnation and bleak outlook are a direct result of the euro's flawed birth, and since then economic integration has outpaced political integration, making its problems worse. Stiglitz shows how the current structure actively promotes divergence rather than convergence. He lays bare the European Central Bank's misguided inflation-only mandate, and explains how Eurozone policies, especially towards the crisis countries, have further exposed the zone's flawed design. The question then is- can the euro be saved? Stiglitz outlines three possible ways forward- fundamental reforms in the structure of the Eurozone and the policies imposed on the member countries; a well-managed end to the single currency 'euro' experiment; or a bold, new system dubbed the 'flexible euro'. Any of them would require far greater political will and cooperation than the leaders of the Eurozone have so far managed to find; but the alternative is disorderly breakup and an even worse political crisis than the continent has suffered so far. This important book, by one of the world's leading economists, addresses the eurocrisis on a bigger intellectual scale than any predecessor."

The euro was supposed to create an unbreakable bond between the nations and people of Europe. But when the debt crisis struck, the flaws of the half-built currency brought the European Union close to breaking point after decades of post-war integration. Deep fault-lines have opened up between European institutions and the nation-states—and often between the rulers and the ruled—raising profound questions about Europe's democratic deficit. Belief in European institutions and national governments alike is waning, while radicals on both the left and the right are gaining power and influence. Europe's leaders have so far proved the doomsayers wrong and prevented the currency from breaking up. "If the euro fails, Europe fails," says Angela Merkel. Yet the euro, and the European project as a whole, is far from safe. If it is to survive and thrive, leaders will finally have to confront difficult decisions. How much national sovereignty are they willing to give up to create a more lasting and credible currency? How much of the debt burden and banking risk will they share? Is Britain prepared to walk away from the EU? And will other countries follow? In Unhappy Union, The Economist's Europe editor and Brussels correspondent provide an astute analysis of the crisis. They describe America's behind-the-scenes lobbying to salvage the euro, economists' bitter debates over austerity, the unseen maneuvers of the European Central Bank and the tortuous negotiations over banking union. In the final chapter, they set out the stark choices confronting Europe's leaders and citizens.