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The Euro: A currency in search of a state

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  • Bill Lucarelli

Abstract

To understand the structural dynamics of the current eurozone crisis, it is necessary to examine the longstanding internal contradictions that the system has inherited from its inception under the Maastricht Treaty and the neoliberal strategy which has governed its evolution from the first experiments in economic and monetary union in the 1970s. A brief narrative of the evolution of the European Monetary Union yields some insights into its peculiar institutional design. More specifically, the article examines the dangerously self-reinforcing logic between speculative bond markets and cascading, deflationary policies of austerity imposed on those countries encountering severe debt crises. This examination reveals the fragile foundations upon which the eurozone was constructed.

Suggested Citation

  • Bill Lucarelli, 2014. "The Euro: A currency in search of a state," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 25(3), pages 484-496, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:25:y:2014:i:3:p:484-496
    DOI: 10.1177/1035304614548962
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Aidnik Martin, 2019. "Europe at the Crossroad: Decline or Reconstruction?," TalTech Journal of European Studies, Sciendo, vol. 9(4), pages 237-253, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Capital; crisis; debt; euro; eurozone; monetary; money;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B5 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches
    • B14 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist
    • B16 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Quantitative and Mathematical
    • B23 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Econometrics; Quantitative and Mathematical Studies

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