The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath

Jean Pisani-Ferry

Jean Pisani-Ferry currently serves as Chief of the Policy Planning Staff for the Prime Minister of France. He also teaches at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. He was formerly the Director of Bruegel, a Brussels-based economic think tank that ranks 1st out of the think tanks of Western Europe, 2nd among all think tanks outside of the U.S., and the 1st out of all International Economic Policy think tanks according to the 2012 Global Go-To Think Tanks Report.
The author distills complicated economic concepts in a way that is easily understood by economists and non-academics alike. His narrative tale of the eurozone crisis reads like an unfolding mystery, keeping the story exciting despite its exhaustive coverage over the past few years.
The eurozone's crisis has sparked much debate among Northern members like Germany and France and the struggling Southern countries, including Greece and Italy, with no clear way out of the developing disaster. Pisani-Ferry comes at the problem from an accessible research and policy perspective while remaining practical, drawing experience from his current role influencing public policy in France.
Discussions of the benefits and burdens of being a member of the eurozone have been rekindled with the ongoing crisis in Cyprus and the recent introduction of Croatia into the European Union.
Dr. Pisani-Ferry's active platform includes regular contributions to Project Syndicate, the Chinese magazine Caixin, and various European publications.

New to this Edition:

The 2011 French edition of this book has been extensively updated to cover the events that have unraveled in the past few years.
The author has augmented his narrative to further his analysis and explanation for a global audience.

Updated Translation Edition

The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath

Jean Pisani-Ferry

Description

The euro's life, while only slightly more than a decade long, has been riddled by a series of challenges and crises. The eruption of the Greek crisis in 2010 took European policymakers by surprise and forced them to design responses to a quickly deteriorating situation. Even though Europe has final begun to stabilize, the disparity between the prosperous Northern countries, especially Germany, and the plummeting Southern countries, including Spain and Greece, has exacerbated economic and political problems within the Eurozone. Amidst loud and frequent debates, solutions have been enacted, but the struggles facing this monetary union continue to develop even today.

The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath was written to inform readers about the roots of this enduring European crisis and the alternative proposals for ending it. In four parts, Jean Pisani-Ferry explains the origins of the European currency, the build-up of imbalances and oversights that led to the crisis, the choices European policymakers have both addressed and ignored since 2010, and the evolution of the policy agenda and possible options for the future. The book is as much of an informative and analytical history as it is a discussion of solutions for a more prosperous European economy.

Rather than putting forth and supporting a thesis, Pisani-Ferry helps readers understand the past and present of the euro crisis and form their own opinions about potential solutions. This book is not intended to reach only economists, as time has long passed since European monetary unification was a debate limited to academics. This book is also for the policy makers searching for solutions, citizens of Europe enduring the consequences, and the international community that has felt the effects of an unstable Eurozone.

Updated Translation Edition

The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath

Jean Pisani-Ferry

Acknowledgements
Introduction

PART 1: BARE-BONES UTOPIA
1. The day the euro ceased to be boring
2. The last utopia of the century
3. The walls of Frankfurt
4. Only one bed for two dreams
5. The orphan currency

PART 2: CRISES FORETOLD, UNEXPECTED CRISES
6. Germany's long penance
7. The perfect culprit
8. The golden decade
9. The misfits
10. The dogs that did not bark

PART 3: AGONIES OF CHOICE
11. To help or not to help
12. Let the banks pay?
13. A lender of last resort?
14. Redemption through austerity?
15. Let's break it up?

PART 4: THE REPAIR AGENDA
16. Fixing the economy
17. Sharing financial risk
18. A real or a mock budget?
19. A European safe asset
20. Governance reform

Conclusions
Glossary
Euro crisis timeline
Selected references

Updated Translation Edition

The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath

Jean Pisani-Ferry

Author Information

Jean Pisani-Ferry currently serves as the Commissioner-General for Policy Planning to the Prime Minister of France. He is also Professor of Economics and Public Management at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. Until May 2013, he was the director of Bruegel, the Brussels-based economic think tank he contributed to founding in 2005.

Updated Translation Edition

The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath

Jean Pisani-Ferry

Reviews and Awards

"I bet this book will be the source to go to on the euro crisis. That is to say, on the euro crisis until now. If policy makers have the wisdom, they will follow Pisani-Ferry's advice on policies going forward, and Europe will heal. If not, another book on the subject will have to be written." --Olivier Blanchard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director of Research, International Monetary Fund

"Jean Pisani-Ferry has been an active contributor for several years to the debate on the euro area crisis. He has provided invaluable insight to those who were on the frontline of EMU's reform and had to act within political constraints. Displaying a rare mix of economic and political analysis and deep institutional understanding, Jean Pisani-Ferry's book provides a benchmark against which to judge the current and forthcoming reforms that will shape Europe's integration for years to come." --Marco Buti, Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission

"This is a brilliant book about the euro. It surprises with its refreshing mixing of history, politics, and economics. That is indeed the mix we need to understand why the euro was created and why it got into so much trouble, as well as how to repair the euro so as to safeguard its future." --Paul De Grauwe, London School of Economics and Political Science

"This is an excellent, well-balanced, and beautifully-written book on the euro-crisis, its causes, its on-going developments, and its possible cures. Though told simply and clearly, it has a sympathetic and sophisticated understanding of all the finer and more technical details. Required reading." --Charles Goodhart, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics

"There is no one better than Jean Pisani-Ferry to tell the story of how a financial crisis emanating from the United Stated led the euro zone, virtually overnight, into a financial and economic crisis that continues to threaten its existence. This is a highly readable and clearheaded account of not just went wrong, but also of what must be done to save the European project." --Dani Rodrik, Professor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

"No global financial issue is more pressing than the future of EMU. If you are going to read only one book about it, read this one. Jean Pisani-Ferry accomplishes something rare in this important book. He is wise and balanced while simultaneously being sharp and incisive. This is must-reading for anyone who cares about Europe s future." --Larry Summers, former President, Harvard University and former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury

"It is succinct and clear enough to serve as the best available guide to the euro mess for non-European, non-economists." --David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal

Updated Translation Edition

The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath

Jean Pisani-Ferry

From Our Blog

All (European) politics is national

By Jean Pisani-Ferry At the end of May, 400 million EU citizens will be called to participate in the second-largest direct election in the world (the first being held in India). Since they last went to the polls to elect their parliament, in 2009, Europe has gone through an acute crisis that precipitated several countries deeper into recession than any peacetime shock they had suffered for a century.

Posted on May 22, 2014

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