The debt crisis of the eurozone revealed a structural problem of the single market rooted in the external imbalance problem of indebted member states. The assumption of this paper is that the current account imbalances within the eurozone are based on an intra-eurozone competitiveness disparity...

In the pre-crisis period, substantial current account imbalances built up in the euro area. Despite recent progress in economic rebalancing, especially in the countries mostly affected by the euro debt crisis, a controversial debate is still raging about past causes, current interpretations and...

Since the mid-2000s, internal and external imbalances have increased in many EU countries. This contributed to the debate over whether government budget deficits affect current account deficits, known as twin deficits hypothesis. It implies that public debt is actually a burden for future...

Over the years, low wage and price increases in Germany amounted to a currency devaluation in real terms against the other eurozone countries and led to a continuous improvement in the German economy’s price competitiveness relative to its fellow eurozone members.