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Free keywords:
European Monetary Union, structural convergence, legitimacy, Eurozone, euro crisis, growth models
Abstract:
The euro crisis has been a consequence of the structural divergence between the export-oriented growth models of Northern political economies and the domestic-demand oriented growth models of Southern political economies. In response to the crisis, the Monetary Union has established a regime of compulsory structural convergence on the Northern model that has asymmetrically imposed huge economic and social costs on its Southern member states. In economic terms, enforced structural transformation may perhaps work, but its distributional asymmetry that cannot be democratically legitimated undermines the regime’s political sustainability.
