Die Beschlüsse von Maastricht zur Einführung einer gemeinsamen europäischen Währung erzeugten unterschiedlichste Reaktionen in Öffentlichkeit und Wissenschaft: Während die einen von einer "Vision für Europa" sprachen, warnten andere vor einem "gefährlichen Irrweg". Auch heute noch...

At the height of the European sovereign debt crisis, the European Central Bank decided to purchase distressed European government bonds. Even worse, and more importantly, the ECB is providing direct support of several hundred billions of euros to troubled banks via its normal monetary policy...

In this paper we describe the genesis of a doomsday scenario and discuss potential causes and motivations for a breakup of the euro area. For this purpose, we differentiate between the departure of weak and strong countries, and examine the impact of the reintroduction of a national currency on...