Causes of the Debt Crisis in Europe and the Role of Regional Integration Carlo Panico

In July and August 2010 the interest rate on the 10-year government bonds of Greece, the most affected country, was around 10.3%, a level considered unsustainable. In this context the author points out that the faults in the institutional organization of the EMU are the main factors responsible for the present problems. The faults have contributed to delaying the policy reactions to the speculative attack, have made these reactions costly and inefficient, and have made it difficult for Greece to find a way out of the problems.

regional_integration (Download the full text in PDF format)