Europe Isn't Working

by Larry Elliott, Dan Atkinson

A timely and provocative account of why the euro has failed and why, as a result, the Union will unravel

Europe's center-left is rapidly falling out of love with the European single currency. Fifteen years after its creation, British journalists Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson assess its performance to show why. Looking at a range of key indicators the authors show how the euro has failed to deliver on its promise of more jobs, more growth and greater equality. Instead it has undermined the European Union.
 
Elliott and Atkinson compare the European Central Bank to the Federal Reserve, arguing that the architects of the euro subjugated economic measures to political considerations. Consequently, countries that didn’t meet the economic convergence criteria were still allowed entry. The end result is a dysfunctional currency union that is unable to cope with difficult economic circumstances. Assessing the situations in Greece, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, and Iceland, as well as Britain, they show that the current policy of kicking the can down the road and hoping that something will turn up is proving increasingly unpopular with the currency's one-time fans in progressive politics. This engaging and accessibly written volume will be widely read by economists, pundits, and policymakers as Britian considers its future relationship with Europe.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2016

Reviews

[David Ash · Rating 1 out of 5]

For any Daily Mail or Daily Express devotee, Larry Elliott's and Dan Atkinson's Euro crashing "Europe Isn't Working" will come as a life affirming blast of icy, anti-EU sentiment. Covering ground familiar to ardent #Brexiters, the authors set out to bury the beating heart of Europe (and the EU) under the tell-tale floorboards of Brussels Central and relegate it to a century old world of Soviet inspired revolutions.

So, if you thought that the EU would lead us into an unholy pit of Communist inspired despair from which there was no escape, then this is the book for you.

In a nut shell:

“The EU is an attempt by a group of bureaucratic, unelected, neo-revolutionary, Marxist, hard left, liberal elites to recreate the 1917 Bolshevik revolution and impose a Stalinist, dictatorial communist state on 750m Europeans.”

And as long as your eyeballs are still intact after that, don't miss out on their follow up, lead weight extension "Europe Didn't Work".

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In short, the authors argue that European Union as a project, especially single currency in name of Euro, is doomed to fail, even from its inception. Once a pet project of people of the left, a.k.a. the social-democrats, the Euro seems to be hijacked by the Right-wing economic liberals, who insist on tight fiscal regulation. The authors also argue that the whole project is being dominated by Germany, shown by their tendency to have things their way. Reading this now, it feels like I am reading some sort of prophecies, which begin to unravel nowadays.

[Katia]

Very good book on Europe and what is going on - just finished it about Brexit and it could have not have come at a better time. Very good explanation also in the light of Brexit. A must read to understand the European context.

[Tarot]

'You can check-out anytime you like,
But you can never leave.'
- The Eagles, Hotel California