The Euro trap: on bursting bubbles, budgets and beliefs

On 4 December we welcome Professor Hans-Werner Sinn at Bruegel to present his latest book, ‘The Euro Trap’, in which he provides a critical assessment of the Eurozone crisis and details the policy failures in trying to solve it. Sinn highlights the mistakes in creating a currency union without a full political union – flaws exposed by the financial crisis to devastating effect.

At a time when concerns around the Eurozone’s economic malaise are growing once again, Sinn argues that the peripheral Eurozone countries are trapped in a flawed currency system and plagued by a fundamental lack of competitiveness. Contrary to the current approach of liquidity injection by the ECB and bailouts, Prof Sinn advocates a radical approach – limit the role of the ECB, exit the regime of soft budget constraints and write off public and bank debt to allow the struggling countries to breathe again. Furthermore, he suggests the euro should allow countries to exit in order to make it easier for them to restore their competitiveness before re-joining the currency union.

To discuss all this and more around Europe’s economic future we have Philippe Weil, Professor at ULB and President of the Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques.

Speakers

• Hans-Werner Sinn, Professor of Economics and Public Finance, University of Munich; President, Ifo Institute; President, CESifo Group, Member of the Advisory Council of the German Ministry of Economics
• Philippe Weil, Professor at ULB and President of the Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques
• Chair: Zsolt Darvas, Senior Fellow, Bruegel

Practical details

• Venue: Bruegel, Rue de la Charité 33, 1210 Brussels
• Time: Thursday 4 December 2014, 12:45-14:30. Lunch will be served at 12:45 after which the event will begin at 13:00.
• Contact: Matilda Sevón, Events Manager - [email protected]

Event Materials

Event Summary -