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Georg Menz (Goldsmiths University of London)

24 November 2016 @ 14:00

 

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Details

Date:
24 November 2016
Time:
14:00
Event Category:

“Constructing Response Strategies to the Euro Crisis: Groupthink, Identity and Ideas in Decision-Making”

abstract

The response strategy to the crisis of the single currency came with some delay and was shaped by the respective positions of national governments. There was considerable disunity and disagreement at that level. These disagreements stemmed from ideas about different conceptions regarding the governance of the single currency and varying perceptions of its symbolic value. However, in repeated rounds of interaction, a consensus solution emerged that was based on groupthink and the commonly shared perception of there being no alternative to salvaging the currency. The European level solution that emerged thus reinforced the tenets originally contained in the Maastricht criteria, but did not break the mould. Finally, the European Central Bank emerged as a powerful actor in its own right, pushing for a ‘federal’ and ‘federalizing’ solution to the crisis.