These distortions, not any shortcomings of the single currency, account for the euro area’s dismal economic performance. The countries that adopted the euro had poor labor-market institutions, bloated pension systems, high taxes on labor income, and inefficient service sectors in the late 1990’s, and they still do now.
造成欧元区经济表现低迷的正是这些扭曲，而不是单一货币的缺陷。欧元的采用国20世纪90年代末就不得不面对糟糕的劳工市场制度，过于庞大的养老金体系、对劳动者收入的高额税收和效率低下的服务部门，这个问题到今天也还没有解决。