Yeah, I read a lot/too much about the crisis when it was going on... a monetary union without a fiscal union was just/is trouble, because every bailout had to b

Yeah, I read a lot/too much about the crisis when it was going on... a monetary union without a fiscal union was just/is trouble, because every bailout had to be voted in by 28 national parliaments. The US states have a fiscal union so "bailouts" of states in deficit happen quietly and automatically, and federal benefits for citizens are guaranteed. And indeed, having one's own currency means there's a natural way to recover the economy without pissing off many of the locals, if your currency devalues (e.g. compared to USD), your labor is now cheaper (in USD), and your countries products can be sold for cheaper. The Euro was very beneficial to Germany because it could continue growing without making its currency go up in value relative to other European ones and making its products less affordable. But it messed up a lot of other European countries...