Talking Politics

We talk to political economist Helen Thompson about the birth of the Euro and its tortuous recent history. Whose idea was it in the first place and how much of its current troubles were baked into its origins? A story of ambition, intrigue and unintended consequences.Talking Points:The euro was the brainchild of the French government, sometime around late 1987.The French had become extremely dissatisfied with the exchange rate mechanism. They thought the set-up benefitted Germany to the expense of everyone else.France saw monetary union as a way to Europeanize monetary policy.The French persuaded the rest of the European community to set up a committee to look into monetary union, which was chaired by the former French finance minister.He understood that union would have to be on German terms: there would be an independent central bank committed to price stability.Helmut Kohl also wanted shifts on the institutional questions within the European Community.The Maastricht Treaty was agre