OK, if it isn't the lazy, tax-evading Greeks who are the cause of their own evil, what is. As it turns out, it may not be a "what" as much as a "who". Let's pick up our (hi)story where we left off.
In 1974 a modicum of stability came to Greece. In June 1975, the Greeks applied for membership in the European Union. As of the 1st of January 1981, they became members. At the time, it will be remembered, there was no (almost) common currency: the Germans had their beloved D-Mark, the French (and others) their (individual) francs, the Greeks had their drachma. The European project was progressing nicely. The Brits came on board in the early 70s, and besides the Greeks, Portugal and Spain also entered in the 80s. At the end of the 80s, however, something happened that no one had really expected: the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc collapsed. There was now a new source of disquiet, namely the reunification of Germany.
We like to think of Germany as a sovereign nation, but in the aftermath of 1989, not everyone was as excited as the Germans about a possible reunification. The Brits held great reservations, as did their traditional rivals, the French. In fact at a meeting of the two Germanys, France, the UK and the US (the latter being the victors of WW2, of course ... a war that apparently still wasn't completely over), the French, in particular, demanded that the Germanys be allowed to reunite only if they committed to joining the fiscal union – what became the euro – as well. The Germans agreed, they reunified, and well, we know their story up till now. But what does this have to do with the Greeks?
There was a lot of euphoria surrounding the introduction of the euro. Anybody who was anybody in Europe, well, except for the Brits who were still trying to figure out where their Empire went, the Scandinavians who are really into doing their own thing, and some of the more recently accepted countries, wanted to join in the party. Europe was growing together. The idea of Europe was gaining strength within Europe (the geographical entity) itself. Things were looking up.
Of course, not everyone was as excited as the Europeans. The greatest Europe-skeptics, of course, were the Americans. I don't think I'm revealing any secrets when I say that they were downright suspicious about it all. Here was a group of countries coming ever closer together who were larger by population and growing in economic power at a disturbing rate. Americans may be competitive, but they hate competition. And now, these stodge-pots were planning on introducing their own currency, too. Everybody knows the US Dollar is the only currency worth having. Or did they. It appeared that those Old Europeans were getting just a bit uppity. They needed to be watched ... and we know where that's led.
In the end, though, as of 1 January 2002, 17 of the current 28 countries in the European Union formed a new monetary union. Which promptly sunk in value by almost 30% in relation to the American dollar. What did you expect? Didn't we tell you that was a bust?
Well, you told us, but was it?
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