Repairing the original sin of the European Monetary Union

Abstract

This study shows that the origins of the sovereign debt crisis within the euro area are to be found within the private sector and in economic policy mistakes rather than only in the profligacy of some national governments in the Southern periphery of Euroland. Sovereign debtors and their private creditors should therefore meet in order for them to arrange a financial package including debt restructuring, rescheduling and cancellation. In this study we argue in favour of a European political union in the form of a federation of states, with its own taxation powers and some financial equalisation transfer mechanisms, to be coupled with a proactive investment policy carried out by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the issue of euro–bonds to channel global savings into an investment–led European Economic Recovery Plan.