That one-size-fits-all approach meant that interest rates in southern European countries were too low before 2009, and too high in northern Europe. A gold-standard rule would have produced higher rates for the southern European borrowers, which would have attracted funds to where capital might be productively used, and at the same time acted as a deterrent against purely speculative capital flows.
金本位规则与现代货币联盟实践大相径庭，后者建立在单一普遍利率的基础上。一刀切意味着南欧国家利率在2009年前一直处于过低状态，北欧这一直处于过高状态。金本位规则意味着南欧借款人会提高利率，从而将资金吸引到资本生产率更高的地区，与此同时，也能防止纯投机性资本流。