The Euro: And Its Threat to the Future of 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."