A euro-zone membership would put Sweden on a fast track to a fiscal crisis like the one in the 1990s. That would be bad: the country cannot absorb the fallout from repeating its disastrous mistakes from back then.
If Sweden were to join the euro, its economy would be less unstable, but more stagnant. The situation for Swedish households and domestic-oriented businesses would go from bad to worse.
Judging from the comments by central bank president György Matolcsy, Hungary could join the euro in 2030 or soon thereafter. Would such a membership be good for Hungary?
According to the data and predictions of economists, the worst of the inflation spike may have passed but interest rates will still go up in the coming months and banks will be hawkish, imposing the tightest requirements for lending since 2011.
While the stars are lining up for another fiscal crisis in Europe, the ECB’s chief economist fails to even mention the threat. Is the ECB ignorant on what is coming down the pike?
With a welfare state that dominates their budgets, European governments are exceedingly vulnerable to a recession. When tax revenue declines and entitlements force governments to spend more, the inevitable result is larger budget deficits. What will the ECB do in response to that?
Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković tweeted that through Croatia’s accession to the euro zone, its citizens “will be better protected against crises.”
