Eurozone crisis : causes and possible political consequences

The economic crisis in the European Union has brought a lot of doubts about the structure of euro zone. Nowadays, it seems more and more obvious that not only the evident political mistakes of Greek government are responsible for the present recession, but also the whole construction of the euro zone. Many scholars and economists are now trying to identify the most important cause of the actual situation. What is more, they also attempt to indicate the most appropriate solution which can strongly help the euro zone to survive. Recently, the most popular and also the most emphasized denouement is strictly connected with political implications. Actually, it is strongly postulated to strengthen the European integration on its political level. This action should (according to some scholars) effectively support the euro zone and let it function more safely. Despite the fact that this recommendation sounds really simple, it brings in practice many difficulties because it is still unsure which form this new type of integration should be adopted. It is also really essential if the effect of this action will be the common european budget or maybe a new state - the European Federation. Nevertheless, this paper does not refer to the considerations about the future political structure of the European Union. Instead, it tries to present two sources of explaining the causes of the current monetary crisis. The first source refers to the historical experiences of former European monetary unions, namely: German, Roman and Scandinavian. Many scientists e.g. Jan Borowiec, see some similarities between those monetary unions in the past and the present euro zone, especially in their downsides. They also stress that the knowledge about those downsides could be really helpful nowadays during formulating the best solution for the euro zone to fight the crisis. Apart from history, the second source of explanation appeals to A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas which was formulated by R. Mundell in 1961. The economists indicate that according to Mundell’s theory the euro zone does not comply the definition of the optimum currency area. Consequently, this situation provides an appearance of the asymmetric shocks which can strongly destabilize economy. This observation is highly linked with the mentioned postulate of deeper political integration of the European Union. In conclusion, the most important question today is if the European Federation is the condition sine qua non for the future of the euro zone and the whole European Union.