As Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen has reminded us, our “instrumental objectives – like the single market and monetary union – should not overshadow our social commitment to the well-being and basic freedoms of the people.”4 The euro is a means to foster peace between nations; and a means to further our collective prosperity. In many ways, we have already achieved this.
War among the countries of Europe is unthinkable. We have integrated our nations and our markets. The ECB has overseen the longest period of price stability in post-war history. But there are also important ways in which we have not succeeded. The terrible economic hardship in some parts of the euro area is testament to this.