The Germans and other northern members have benefited from the Euro effectively fixing the exchange rate that has made it easy and relatively cheap for them to sell their cars etc to southern members to whom they lent money to buy their cars. This is very similar to the banks lending money to customers who spent it.
The issue then is who takes responsibility for the debt and managing the Eurozone fallout. Do lenders write off debt, or do they lend more such as via Eurobonds or Quantitive Easing (QE) with terms that impose huge penalties. This latter route is similar to the reparations that planted the seeds of the second world war, a subject that has recently been put on the table. Or do lenders defer payments that allow for a fudge whereby loans are repaid over an extended period that effectively allows inflation to devalue the loans.
The UK has opted for the fudge route and will avoid banks defaulting through QE, low interest rates and using inflation to reduce the cost of repaying debt. While most borrowers will benefit, those with assets, savings and reserves will see them devalued while the debt overhang is cleared. Although this is regarded by many as a mistake, we saw in 2007 and 2008 what happens when banks default and are right to avoid bank defaults.
Europe however has yet to find a solution whether it is by managing southern member defaults, or providing more loans to avoid default. The problem facing European leaders is that they need to be strong and stand up to their electorates if the lessons of history are to be applied.
While European leaders find their backbone, in UK our political leaders are looking decisive, a tribute to both Darling and Osborne. Inspite of the decisions taken it will still take a long time to clear the debt overhang with a floating exchange rate and inflation to reduce debt and low interest rates to smooth the way.
Most UK companies that have undergone restructuring have much stronger balance sheets and are building reserves ready to take advantage of the Eurozone fallout. However there are still many more UK companies, that like many European members, have weak balance sheets and continue to struggle while they and their lenders put off the inevitible restructuring.
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