> when goods are traded between two Euro countries, these goods aren't really paid for This is a very politically biased and misleading perspective on reality.

> when goods are traded between two Euro countries, these goods aren't really paid for This is a very politically biased and misleading perspective on reality. Consider an alternative world in which the central banks of the Eurozone would have been consolidated entirely. That is, no more Bundesbank, no more De Nederlandsche Bank, only the ECB. All commercial banks would have central bank accounts directly there. In this world, everything in the real economy would look exactly the same as it does in our world. However, this alternative world would not have Target balances in its central bank system, and therefore nobody (including you) would ever even think to write that "goods aren't really paid for". But how can it be that goods are paid for in this alternative world while they aren't paid for in our world? The answer is that that just doesn't make sense. Goods are paid for even in our, non-hypothetical world. Yes, there are flow imbalances, but guess what: That happens in every region ever that has a unified currency. If you don't like that, then please just be honest and come right out and say so. Don't try to cloud your opinion in misleading rhetoric.