The Repositioning of the Euro Area in the World System: Political and Economic Dimensions

Abstract

This article advocates a comprehensive approach to the current crisis in the Euro Area - and, namely, the joint consideration of the economic and political issues at stake. The European integration - whose greatest development is, to present time, the Monetary Union - is a political project: a matter of will and action. Surely, this political project has a strong and specific economic component. Still, it is political. Therefore, political variables are critical. They must be included in any analysis of the financial and economic circumstances, and they must be considered in any strategy to overcome the current roadblock. The Euro Area has to cope, not only with excessive indebtedness, fiscal unbalances and financial markets, but also with the democratic restrictions to austerity and economic recession, and with the democratic requirement to respect social rights, to look for public support and to engage in political dialogue and compromise. In liberal democracies, as ours, the employment, social protection, citizenship and the right to believe and hope are full goals for the public policies, including the economic and fiscal ones.

Key words: Europe, Public policy, International economy.
JEL: A14, F02, G01.