These proposals often share an anti-Euro sentiment and seem to be in accordance with the naysayers who were taking potshots at the Euro even before its inception in 1999. However, many critics ignore the euro area’s strengths. There is a need for clarification. Let me start by stressing some facts: 1.
Since its inception almost 13 years ago, the euro area has experienced an unprecedented level of price stability. 2. The euro area has logged real per-capita income growth of around 1 percent a year since 1999, just below the U.S.’s 1.1 percent. Observers often look only at headline growth figures, where the difference is bigger. But the figures match once adjusted for population growth.