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The euro at 20: An enduring success but a fundamental failure
New Year’s Day 1999 saw the largest monetary changeover in history.
- Barry Eichengreen
- The Conversation
On that date, just 20 years ago, 12 members of the European Union formally adopted a brand-spanking-new currency, the euro.
Today seven additional EU member states use it, along with Montenegro, Kosovo, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.
If survival is the ultimate gauge of success, then this grand monetary experiment can be said to have succeeded.
But as investment advisers say, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
- History lesson
To understand why…