First, the US is further along in its business cycle, and therefore its monetary policy cycle, than the euro area. But while this is a difference, it may actually allow us to look out for possible similarities – similarities in terms of the appropriate point in time to normalise monetary policy. Second, the institutional set-ups of the US and European currency areas differ.
*  *  *  Insulating the euro from both scepticism and complacency How is it that the euro, having confounded its critics by displaying resilience and tranquillity for a decade, is suddenly plunged by the global financial crisis into a severe structural crisis?