Ashoka Mody: Kaldor’s Ghost Is Stalking The Eurozone

Ashoka Mody has done excellent historical work in his book Eurotragedy — A Drama in Nine Acts. Excerpt from his interview with Spiked, reminding us of the wonderful prediction of Nicky Kaldor from 1971:

spiked: When I’ve been to Italy recently I’m struck by the instances of anti-German grafitti. Do you think that one of the greatest ironies of this project of supposed economic and political integration is that it has actually fostered enmity among European nations, rather than unity?

Mody: As I said, Nicholas Kaldor predicted exactly that in 1971. He said that a single currency will amplify existing economic divergences, and, if it does that, it will deepen political divisions. He even quoted Abraham Lincoln: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ Kaldor’s ghost is stalking the Eurozone.