Moreover, while über-competitive Germany can withstand a euro at – or even stronger than – $1.30, for the eurozone’s periphery, where unit labor costs rose 30-40% during the last decade, the value of the exchange rate would have to fall to parity with the US dollar to restore competitiveness and external balance. After all, with painful deleveraging – spending less and saving more to reduce debts – depressing domestic private and public demand, the only hope of restoring growth is an improvement in the trade balance, which requires a much weaker euro.
此外，尽管竞争力强大的德国可以忍受欧元兑美元1.3甚至更高的汇率，但对单位劳动成本在过去十年中上涨了三四成的欧元区外围国来说，欧元汇率要下降至与美元相当的水平才能重新获得竞争力和外部平衡。毕竟，在痛苦的去杠杆过程中（即减少开支、增加储蓄以降低债务），国内私人和公共需求将受到抑制，重塑增长的唯一希望是贸易平衡的改善，而这要求欧元大幅贬值。