What drives growth and prosperity in good times can easily turn the other way in a crisis. In a globalised world, a problem at one side of the globe can quickly spread to the other side. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: “a financial crisis gets halfway around the world before policymakers have a chance to get their pants on”.
In a globalised world, what happens in the United States is relevant to Europe and what happens in Europe is relevant to the United States. Against this backdrop, I wish to shed some light on the situation in the euro area and offer you an inside view. 2.