Summary and Analysis of The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe: Based on the Book by Joseph E. Stiglitz

By Worth Books

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Euro tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Joseph E. Stiglitz’s book.
 
Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
This short summary and analysis of The Euro by Joseph E. Stiglitz includes:
 

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter summaries
• Profiles of the main characters
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Glossary of terms
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

 
About The Euro by Joseph E. Stiglitz:
 
In The Euro, Columbia Business School professor and Nobel Prize–winning economist author Joseph E. Stiglitz argues that the fundamental cause of the Eurozone’s recent economic difficulties was the creation of a single currency without the institutions to support it. The euro bound 19 countries with very different economies—and very different views about economics—together, but it did not include the institutions or rules to make such a union succeed.
 
The results of this union are clear: although the United States has experienced growth since the financial crisis, Europe is stagnant and Eurozone unemployment remains over 10%. New York Times bestselling author Joseph Stiglitz outlines three possible ways forward: fundamental reforms to the current system, an end to the single currency experiment, or a new system entirely.
 
The Euro is required reading for all citizens of today’s globalized world.
 
The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Dec 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504043403

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Contents

Context

Overview

Summary

Timeline

Cast of Characters

Direct Quotes and Analysis

Trivia

What’s That Word?

Critical Response

About Joseph E. Stiglitz

For Your Information

Bibliography

Copyright

Context

The Euro, written by Nobel Prize–winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, was released in August 2016, during a lull in the eurozone crisis. Yet these were not calm times; Europe itself was at a moment of dramatic change. The influx of refugees from the Middle East was testing European integration, creating significant political headwinds for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had recently admitted around one million emigrants into Germany. Meanwhile, Britain’s vote on June 23rd to exit the European Union continued to send shockwaves around the world. On July 13, Theresa May became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, promising to enact the British exit, or Brexit, in 2017.

Further global economic and political uncertainty continued to cloud the outlook for Europe as reservations created by the United States’ 2016 presidential race seeped into European minds. Amidst all of these dramatic political events, the eurozone continued to endure anemic economic growth. While the United States had begun to truly recover from the 2008 financial crisis, mid-2016 the eurozone seemed to still be mired in relative stagnation.

Overview

In The Euro, Stiglitz argues that the fundamental cause of the eurozone’s recent economic difficulties was the creation of a single currency without the institutions to support it. The euro bound together 19 countries with very different economies (and very different views about economics), but it did not include the institutions or rules to make such a union succeed. The results of this union are clear: Although the United States has experienced growth since the 2008 financial crisis, Europe is stagnant, and eurozone unemployment remains over 10 percent. Even Germany, held up as a model for other European countries, is growing at a meager average of 0.8 percent per year. Greece, Italy, Ireland, Finland, and Portugal