EU

The finance minister who steered Greece into the common currency club argues that the country’s problems today are not an inevitable result of having adopted the euro -- and they can be resolved without abandoning it.

In the past, U.S. and European negotiators have tried and failed to create a unified transatlantic market. But the trade talks that President Obama announced this month have a much better chance of succeeding, thanks to a greater need for economic growth on both sides, the threat of China’s illiberal economic behavior, and the desire to give U.S.-European relations a new purpose.

For once, Ireland is projecting confidence and implementing painful austerity measures to get its fiscal house in order, which is allowing it to borrow money despite its many economic problems. Other debt-ridden European countries, however, would be wrong to conclude that they can do the same.

The euro’s naysayers have it all wrong. True, the continent’s powerhouses have yet to agree on a clear plan to save the common currency, as each one is seeking to secure the best deal for itself. But they all also know that the collapse of the eurozone would be a political and economic disaster, so they will ultimately pay whatever price is necessary to keep it together.