And, during its first decade, the euro ostensibly delivered. Just as cheap mortgage financing papered over the cracks of growing income inequality in the United States, cheap capital from the north accelerated Europe’s apparent economic convergence.
欧洲领导人希望货币联盟能帮助欧洲缺少竞争力的经济体赶超北欧的富裕国家。在第一个十年里，欧元表面上达到了这一目的。正如廉价按揭融资糊住了美国不断增长的收入不平等裂缝，来自北欧的廉价资本加速了欧洲表面上的经济趋同。