Instead of the convergence prescribed by the Maastricht Treaty, the radical narrowing of interest-rate differentials generated divergences in economic performance. Countries like Spain, Greece, and Ireland developed real-estate bubbles, grew faster, and developed trade deficits with the rest of the eurozone, while Germany – weighed down by the costs of reunification – reined in its labor costs, became more competitive and developed a chronic trade surplus.
与马斯特里赫特所预示的趋同相反，利差的显著下降拉大了欧元区内的经济表现差异了西班牙、希腊和爱尔兰等国家出现了房地产泡沫，经济增长更快，产生了对其他欧元区国家的贸易赤字。与此同时，德国尽管承受了重新统一的代价，但由于劳动力成本下降，竞争力获得了提高，产生了长期的贸易盈余。