How is Europe doing economically? In this unit, students will read about the history of the formation of the European Union and articles about economic problems facing the EU.
Contact Information: Missy Rayburn, missyrayburn@lowndes.k12.ga.us Teachers may select 2-3 articles from those included below and in the Resources section or find more current articles using research databases.
For this project we used the following articles:
The European Farce. Newsweek (5/21/2012)—FERGUSON, NIALL
The article presents the author's views on the subject of the European economic system as of May 2012 and economic conditions after the sovereign debt crisis of 2009. Topics include Germany's policy of austerity spending cuts for weak economies in Southern Europe and the possible creation of Stability Bonds that would put the credit of the European Union, most significantly Germany, behind the national debts of member states.
After the fall. Economist (9/17/2011)—
The article considers the possibility that the financial crisis in the euro area of the European Union (EU) could result in one or more countries leaving the monetary union. Departure from the euro area is forecast to have a serious negative effect on Germany, the union's wealthiest neighbor, and a catastrophic effect on Greece, the country most at risk of defaulting on its public debt.
Still sickly. Economist (3/31/2012)—The article discusses economics in the euro zone in 2012, examining concerns about deficits and recessions in Spain, Greece, and Portugal and arguing that further integration is required to manage the euro zone's banking, growth, and sovereign-debt crises. The article examines a paper by the economist Jay Shambaugh which found that regional imbalances must be addressed through internal devaluation, which the article says is opposed by Germany.
