The European Union as Peter Pan. Global and Foreign Policy Implications of the Eurozone Crisis

The paper argues that Europe’s austerity strategy, which is frequently criticised for being ineffective in reducing public debts and masochist in its social impact, is also likely to induce hostile reactions on the side of the rest of the world. Without noticing (or caring), Europe is fostering a world-wide pursuit of uncooperative economic policies and global instability. A progressive strategy should instead aim at the full establishment of the euro as an international reserve currency. In turn, this would allow for a progressive growth model in Europe, based on the growth of internal demand (in particular investments and wage growth). Not by combination, such European strategy would turn out to be beneficial for the stability of the international monetary system too.