'..a controlled exit of the most competitive countries..' - 'France Must Lead Breakup of Euro'

<blockquote>'..a controlled exit of the most competitive countries such as Germany, Netherlands, Finland at al. lies in the best interest of the South, and that such solution offers the best chance to save the European Union and the Common European Market.'

- European Solidarity Manifesto – an alternative solution to the Eurozone Crisis</blockquote>


<blockquote>'..Only one country can plausibly take the lead in advocating a controlled segmentation of the euro system by means of a jointly agreed exit of the most competitive countries. That country is France .. A splitting of the euro system would be in the best interests of both France and Europe..'

- Brigitte Granville, Hans-Olaf Henkel & Stefan Kawalec, Part I, Save Europe: Split the Euro, May 14, 2013</blockquote>


'..The financial crisis and its aftermath have shown that the euro instead has the potential to destroy the whole project. It impedes the reforms necessary to restore France’s fading international competitiveness .. Splitting the euro in the way we advocate is vital to the survival of the European idea.'

<blockquote>'..most other new measures to boost competitiveness boil down to new forms of dirigisme. Instead, France needs fundamental structural reform -- lower public spending .. For France and for the euro system as a whole, the best strategy is to dismantle the monetary union from the top -- via the exit of Germany and the other most competitive countries. Appreciation of the new German currency would improve the deficit countries’ trade balances. In some cases, debt write-offs would still be necessary, but the scale of reduction and the cost to creditors would be smaller because the monetary dismantling would boost the deficit countries’ growth. The surplus countries would have to recapitalize their banks after losses due to any debt reduction, so exiting the system doesn’t mean abandoning the crisis countries. The difference is that, after the exits, their assistance would help put the deficit countries on a recovery path, whereas the current bailouts lead only to a dead end.

..

The euro was seen as the ultimate underpinning for the edifice of European integration. The financial crisis and its aftermath have shown that the euro instead has the potential to destroy the whole project. It impedes the reforms necessary to restore France’s fading international competitiveness. Retaining the present euro system whatever the cost will cripple the French economy, undo French social cohesion, and weaken France’s position in Europe and the world.

As Europe’s founding father, only France has the standing to advocate a strategy of dismantling the euro system for the sake of the European Union. The alternative is economic failure, deeper divisions and bitter resentments among Europe’s nations, putting the most valuable achievements of European integration at risk. One way or another, Europe’s house will be divided.

The question is how much, or how little, this division will sweep away. Splitting the euro in the way we advocate is vital to the survival of the European idea.'

- Brigitte Granville, Hans-Olaf Henkel & Stefan Kawalec, Part II, France Must Lead Breakup of Euro, May 15, 2013</blockquote>


Context

<blockquote>Folly of Preserving the Euro at All Costs; Should France Lead Breakup of Euro? May 19, 2013

Banking Reform

Economics as a Science of Human Action - '..the subjective character of the discipline..'</blockquote>