Europe's Crisis, Europe's Future

The eurozone crisis started in Greece in 2009-10, spread into Ireland and Portugal, and, from there, quickly spread to the larger economies of Spain and Italy. By the autumn of 2011, it threatened the entire global financial system. In Europe's Crisis, Europe's Future, an international group of economic analysts provides an insightful view of the crisis. How did mismanagement of a crisis in a marginal economy spark such a wildfire? After all, Greece is responsible for only 2 per cent of the eurozone's total GDP, yet the crisis in Athens threatened to grow into a worldwide contagion. Individual chapters describe: the onset, evolution, and ramifications of the euro crisis from the perspective of three countries especially hard hit - Greece, Italy, and Spain; the concerns, priorities, and impacts in continental leaders France and Germany; and the effects and lessons in key policy contexts - national and international finance and social policies. A concluding chapter by Kemal Dervi discusses the possibility of a renewed vision for the European Union in the 2020s, one that would accommodate the needs of greater political integration in the eurozone within a larger European Union where some countries, such as the United Kingdom, will keep their national currencies. Contents: Introduction: Kemal Dervi and Jacques Mistral (Brookings); Country Perspectives - Greece, by Theodore Pelagidis and Michael Mitsopoulos (Brookings); Spain, by Angel Pascual-Ramsay (Brookings and ESADE Business School); Italy, by Domenico Lombardi (Centre for International Governance Innovation) and Luigi Paganetto (University of Rome); France, by Jacques Mistral; Germany, by Friedrich Heinemann (Center for European Economic Research) Cross-Cutting Issues; The Financial Sector, by Douglas Elliott (Brookings); and, Social Policies, by Jacques MistralConclusion, by Kemal Dervi.