The Greek crisis is merely a symptom of the EU’s inability to deal with recessions

Abstract

Fresh elections will be held in Greece following the resignation of Alexis Tsipras as the country’s Prime Minister. Partha Gangopadhyay writes that while this latest twist in Greek domestic politics has raised more uncertainty about Greece’s ability to meet the conditions of its bailout agreement, there is a far wider structural problem with the Eurozone that cannot be addressed via bailouts or cosmetic changes. He argues that with states tied to a shared monetary policy, and with the EU possessing only a small budget for promoting convergence among its members, the EU simply lacks the fiscal capacity to deal with large economic shocks