In more recent years, the narrative of seeing it as a banking crisis has gained attention, combining it with the sovereign debt crisis to create a story of “two debt overhangs”. Naturally, there is a grain of truth in all these narratives, as is to be expected given the complexity and interplay of factors within a major international crisis.
However, more than trying to discuss a cogent overall interpretation of the euro area crisis, I would like to explore two perspectives: •  first, what were the root causes and key initial drivers of the crisis? •  second, what role did the international financial crisis, originating in the US, play in triggering the European crisis?