Wednesday, December 14, 2016

2016 Nobel Prize-Winning Economist: 'Euro was a mistake'

The European Union should start the decentralization process and give the right of decision-making to its member states, according to the Nobel Prize-winning economist Oliver Hart.


He told the European media platform Euractiv that Brussels has “gone too far in centralizing power” and “if it abandons this trend, the EU could survive and flourish. Otherwise, it could fail.”
The 28 EU member states are not “sufficiently homogeneous” to be considered one single entity and trying to tie them into one was an “error,” said the British-born economics professor from Harvard University.
Hart added that Brussels should return powers to the EU capitals but might retain control of “some important areas,” like free trade and free movement of workers.
He also expressed firmly that “the euro was a mistake.” An opinion Hart says he held since the monetary union was introduced.
It “wouldn’t be a bad thing at all” if in the future Europe abandons the single currency, said the economist, adding the British were “very clever” to stay out of it.
Sound commentary from Hart, who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2016 together with Bengt R. Holmström .
(via Hart)

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