In particular, the problem of the divergent competitiveness of the Eurozone countries remains unsolved. It arises from the fact that individual eurozone countries can no longer devalue their currency in order to remain internationally competitive; a method commonly used before the euro was introduced. Since introduction of the euro, an erosion of international competitiveness leads to lower economic growth, a rise in unemployment and falling tax revenues. Greece and Italy in particular are currently experiencing major difficulties due to the fact that they are unable to devalue their currency. [...]
In 2017, out of the examined eurozone countries, only Germany and the Netherlands gained from the euro. In Germany, GDP went up by € 280 billion and per-capita GDP by € 3,390. Italy lost out most. Without the euro, Italian GDP would have been higher by € 530 billion, which corresponds to € 8,756 per capita. In France, too, the euro has led to significant losses of prosperity of € 374 billion overall, which corresponds to € 5,570 per capita. [...]
In Italy, therefore, the introduction of the euro led to a drop in prosperity of around € 74,000 per capita or € 4.3 trillion for the economy as a whole, over the period 1999 to 2017. For France, the loss amounts to almost € 56,000 per capita or € 3.6 trillion respectively. Germany achieved an increase in prosperity of € 23,000 per capita and € 1.9 trillion respectively. The fact that the effects of the euro on prosperity in Greece are still just about positive is due to the fact that Greece gained hugely from the euro in the first few years after its introduction. This changed in 2011 after the bubble, created in previous years, burst in 2009. Since then, the euro has had a negative influence on Greek prosperity.
forum.spaziogames.it
