The Crisis and the Euro

This paper explores the different challenges that the financial crisis has posed to the Euro area and its governance. First, it examines the role of the Euro zone in the genesis of the financial crisis. Second, it critically analyzes the debates around the possibility that some euro zone members could be tempted to re establish their old national currencies. It then explores the prospects of new EU members adopting the euro. Fourth, it evaluates the ECB´s response to the crisis and the need for a single bank regulator. Finally, it speculates about the future of euro-dollar rivalry.