I will look back at the experience of the euro area since 1999 and illustrate the emergence of macroeconomic imbalances by focusing on three countries: Spain, Germany and France. The crisis acted as a litmus test for Europe’s institutional framework, revealing the need for a number of institutional reforms.
The spike we have here today truly is the “last” spike, in that it’s the one that has lasted. It was supposed to be driven in by the Governor General of the time, Lord Lansdowne.