‘Dismantle the Euro to Save Europe’ Feat. Tuomas Malinen

The European Union and the euro are part of the most ambitious political and economic experiment of the 21st century. The COVID-19 crisis, however, has exacerbated growing questions of political will and political legitimacy and led some to wonder if the eurozone can survive. 

Tuomas Malinen is the CEO of GnS Economics, a macroeconomic advisory firm, and Adj. Professor of Economics at the University of Helsinki. In this interview, he and NLW discuss:

• Why the European debt crisis was actually a “morally corrupt bank recapitalization project”
• Why negative interest rates and quantitative easing made the European banking sector particularly weak even before the pandemic 
• Why the German Constitutional Court’s battle with the European Central Bank has major implications for the entire euro system
• Why European leaders are pushing for deeper integration when citizens want more lightweight integration
• Why European nations would be more likely to support one another in bilateral arrangements rather than through forced solidarity 
• Why the only way to save the European Union might be to let the euro fade away