On the other hand, the share of euro area exports in world exports is 19%, whereas the US share is 15%. In spite of monetary union, economic diversity across the euro area has not disappeared completely.
Growth differentials between countries have been more or less stable over the last decade; inflation rates have converged in the run-up to monetary union, but have diverged somewhat since. Divergences in Europe attract much more public attention than do regional differences in the US. This is striking, since in fact economic differences across the US do not vary greatly from those across Europe.