The cynical rise and painful fall of the euro

The cynical rise and painful fall of the euro
"The euro and the damage it wrought.
“...When the American subprime meltdown resulted in tightened credit markets 10 years ago, Greece’s entire economic system collapsed, threatening to take other European countries down with it. 
The episode revealed flaws not just in the way Greece’s government had run its economy but in the design of the euro itself.
The single currency had already undermined Greece’s prosperity, albeit while making Greeks feel rich.
The ability to borrow at rock-bottom interest rates more suitable to venerable corporations in Stuttgart had brought inflationary pressures...
There is a profound mystery about the euro, according to economist Ashoka Mody.
‘Why,’ he asks, ‘did Europeans attempt such a venture that carried no obvious benefits but came with huge risks?’
Today, despite what Pierre Moscovici and his colleagues said in Luxembourg, Greek debt, at 179 percent, is higher still.
...The country is in some respects worse off than it was when Greek protesters mobbed the parliament in May 2010, howling, “Let the whorehouse burn!”
...Germany has been the main actor in this story since the euro was conceived a half-century ago.
The strange thing about the euro is that it is an incomplete currency. 
“Germany plays the role of a hegemon in Europe,” Mody writes, “but is unwilling to bear the cost of being a hegemon.”
What he means is that countries that share the euro do not share a fiscal policy..."
Read all!