ABSTRACT
European leaders deny the crisis is related to the common currency, just as politicians and financiers during the inter-war period denied the connection between their countries’ economic problems and the stubborn defence of the gold standard. The policy of defending the euro at all costs is driving the preservation of an economic and social situation that’s difficult to accept in some European countries, and creates a threat to the future of the European Union and the common market. A return to national currencies and the introduction of a new currency coordination system will not solve all the problems Europe is facing. To rescue the most valuable achievements of European integration – the European Union and the common market – it is essential to depart from tired, failed models and pull back from the unsuccessful project of the common currency. The lessons of inter-war Europe will be refreshed before our eyes as support grows for anti-European parties in eurozone countries.
