Chronique d’une crise annoncée : la science régionale, la nouvelle dynamique des territoires, et la crise de l’euro

The Euro crisis was entirely predictable. Monetary unions change the rules of competition between nations, transforming them into regions from a spatial economics perspective. The travails of the euro zone since 2008 are the predictable outcome of a frontal collision between the economic forces unleashed and the absence of political institutions to manage them. The working of monetary unions is examined taking Canada as an example. The Spanish case is then examined as an arch-example of a peripheral nation hard hit by the crisis, compounded by Europe?s polarized economic geography. Two conclusions follow: 1) The euro zone is still far from having the proper institutions needed to manage a monetary union, heralding future crises ; 2) Europe?s challenge will be to invent a political union that meets the needs of managing a monetary union while maintaining national sovereignties.