Defaults and foreclosure activity increased dramatically, as easy initial terms expired. Home prices failed to go up as originally anticipated, and ARM interest rates reset higher. Foreclosures accelerated in the United States in late 2006 and triggered a global financial crisis through 2007 and 2008. II.
Such a great leap in European integration towards a fiscal union would, however, mean constraining national sovereignty in fiscal affairs and transferring the respective control rights to the Union level. Such an initiative would need sufficient political backing and – in some countries – electoral approval. To be honest, I doubt this to be a realistic endeavour in the foreseeable future.