EuroTragedy: A Drama in Nine Acts

  • 13h 49m
  • Ashoka Mody
  • Oxford University Press (US)
  • 2018

Blending economic analysis with political drama, EuroTragedy -chosen by both Foreign Affairs and The Financial Times as one of the best books of 2018-is a groundbreaking account of the euro's history and tragic consequences. In this vivid and compelling chronicle, Ashoka Mody describes how the euro improbably emerged through a narrow historical window as a flawed compromise wrapped in a false pro-European rhetoric of peace and unity. Drawing on his frontline experience as an official with the IMF, Mody situates the tragedy in a fast-paced global context and guides the reader through the forced-and unforced-errors Eurozone authorities committed during their long financial crisis. The decision to switch from national currencies to the euro unfolded as both economic and political tragedy. It weakened the growth potential of member states, which made financially vulnerable Europeans more anxious. It deepened perceptions of unfairness and widened the division between nations. Now, the burden falls on younger Europeans, a generation with a discouragingly bleak future. A compassionate view of European possibilities, EuroTragedy makes clear that the euro's structural flaws will continue to haunt the continent. Instead of centralizing authority to prop up an ossified pro-Europeanist model, it is time to loosen ties that bind too tightly so that a liberal order can once more flourish. Now updated to cover the most momentous events since original publication, this will remain the authoritative book on the crisis.

In this Book

  • List of Abbreviations
  • Introduction—Europe Ends up Someplace Else
  • Three Leaps in the Dark, 1950–1982
  • Kohl’s Euro, 1982–1998
  • Schröder Asserts the German National Interest, 1999–2003
  • Irrational Exuberance, 2004–2007
  • After the Bust, the Denial, 2007–2009
  • Delays and Half Measures—Greece and Ireland, 2010
  • Policy Wounds Leave behind Scar Tissue, 2011–2013
  • The ECB Hesitates, the Italian Fault Line Deepens, 2014–2017
  • The Final Act—A Declining and Divided Europe
  • Scenarios—The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be
  • Epilogue
  • Main Characters in the Euro Drama
  • Timeline of Key Events—How it Unfolded
  • Notes
  • References
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