Crisis gatecrashes 10th birthday of euro

”Everything seemed to be going along just nicely until the financial crisis came along and shone the spotlight on the institutional shortcomings of the eurozone,” said Philip Whyte of the CER... The low interest rates that monetary union brought with it for southern Europe led governments, businesses and households to take on increasingly unmanageable burdens of debt and everyone, including the northern states, underestimated the dangers, Whyte said.