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Eurozone

The ECB minutes’ leak and the historian’s “black box”

In an article on the bailout of the Cyprus Popular Bank, the New York Times describes internal disputes within the European Central Bank on the basis of leaked ECB minutes – an episode that epitomises some of the challenges faced by historians.

La zone euro est-elle viable ? Une perspective historique

La crise de la zone euro a révélé les faiblesses constitutives de la monnaie unique ; mais les débats portant sur sa viabilité se limitent trop souvent à une vision purement économique de la zone euro. L’histoire complexe de la création de l’euro éclaire les enjeux financiers et politiques internationaux de l’unification monétaire.

Trade surpluses and the single currency

German trade surpluses are making once again the headlines. The European Commission decided yesterday to launch an investigation into Berlin’s “excessive” trade surplus. This surplus is so large, the Commission argues, that it saps the strength of the Eurozone economic balance (or, put differently, nurtures its imbalances). But is this concern really new?