Since the launch of Europe's single currency, there have been theoretical worries about profligacy. The main fear was that free-spending countries (ie, Italy) might borrow excessively and pass either higher interest costs or the bill for a bail-out onrnto their sober, frugal brethren (ie, Germany). Eleven years after the euro's birth, as Greece skids towards disaster, those vague fears have become an urgent question of policy.
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