The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe

The euro was supposed to bring Europe closer together and promote prosperity; in fact, it has done just the opposite. The 2008 crisis revealed the shortcomings of the euro, and Europe’s stagnation and bleak outlook are a direct result of the fundamental flaws inherent in the EU project-economic integration outpacing political integration with a structure that promotes divergence rather than convergence. The question then is: Can the euro be saved? Laying bare the European Central Bank’s misguided inflation-only mandate, and explaining why austerity has condemned Europe to unending stagnation, Joseph E. Stiglitz outlines three possible ways forward: fundamental reforms in the structure of the Eurozone and the policies imposed on the member countries suffering the most; a well-managed end to the European Union; or a bold, new system dubbed the flexible euro. With its lessons for globalization in a world economy ever more deeply connected, The Euro is urgent and essential reading.