Jettisoning the grandiose dream of a global reserve currency and
promoting viable national economies is the way out of the
eurozone crisis The rationale of the euro was never properly
established through reasoned and open public discussion. Those
who argue that monetary union was the next step in a necessary
project of political integration left the economic argument
obscure. One motivation of the euro’s creators appears to have
been to make a bid for status as a global reserve currency. Such
a currency may be perceived to carry benefits if successful,
such as enlarged seignorage (the purchasing power accruing to
the money creator) and the “exorbitant privilege” of being able
to purchase goods and services from the world without selling
them in turn. What is a reserve currency and how does it come
into being? A reserve currency is widely employed as a store of
value (hence the term “reserve”). However, this role (as well as
that as a widely used unit of account) typically derives from
its role in transactions