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Design Failures in the Eurozone - can they be fixed?

Author(s): Paul de Grauwe

Design Failures in the Eurozone - can they be fixed? pdf(929 kB) Choose translations of the previous link 

I analyze the nature of the design failures of the Eurozone. I argue first that the endogenous dynamics of booms and busts that are endemic in capitalism continued to work at the national level in the Eurozone and that the monetary union in no way disciplined these into a union-wide dynamics. On the contrary the monetary union probably exacerbated these national booms and busts. Second, the existing stabilizers that existed at the national level prior to the start of the union were stripped away from the member-states without being transposed at the monetary union level. This left the member states “naked” and fragile, unable to deal with the coming national disturbances. I study the way these failures can be overcome. This leads me to stress the role of the ECB as a lender of last resort and the need to make macroeconomic policies more symmetric so as to avoid a deflationary bias in the Eurozone. I conclude with some thoughts on political unification, and the dangers of unification without democratic legitimacy.


(European Economy. Economic Papers 491. April 2013. Brussels. PDF. 36pp. Tab. Bibliogr. Free.)

KC-AI-13-491-EN-N (online)
ISBN 978-92-79-28573-8 (online)
doi: 10.2765/43 (online)

JEL classification: E44, E58, E61, F32, G01, H63

Economic Papers are written by the staff of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, or by experts working in association with them. The Papers are intended to increase awareness of the technical work being done by staff and to seek comments and suggestions for further analysis. The views expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily correspond to those of the European Commission.

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