After years of crisis, European Union leaders must recover the capacity, displayed by the EU's founders, to look ahead. Specifically, they should introduce a mechanism for fiscal transfers from stronger to weaker economies.
ATHENS – When the eurozone was established, its creators envisioned gradual progress toward an “optimal currency area,” characterized by fiscal integration, the free movement of labor, and political union. But this process has not occurred, and, as the interminable Greek crisis has shown, the eurozone remains rife with structural weaknesses and extremely vulnerable to internal shocks. This is clearly not sustainable.
ATHENS – When the eurozone was established, its creators envisioned gradual progress toward an “optimal currency area,” characterized by fiscal integration, the free movement of labor, and political union. But this process has not occurred, and, as the interminable Greek crisis has shown, the eurozone remains rife with structural weaknesses and extremely vulnerable to internal shocks. This is clearly not sustainable.