The European Union and the euro are part of the most ambitious political and economic experiment of the 21st century. The COVID-19 crisis, however, has exacerbated growing questions of political will and political legitimacy and led some to wonder if the eurozone can survive. 

Tuomas Malinen is the CEO of GnS Economics, a macroeconomic advisory firm, and Adj. Professor of Economics at the University of Helsinki. In this interview, he and NLW discuss:

• Why the European debt crisis was actually a “morally corrupt bank recapitalization project”
• Why negative interest rates and quantitative easing made the European banking sector particularly weak even before the pandemic 
• Why the German Constitutional Court’s battle with the European Central Bank has major implications for the entire euro system
• Why European leaders are pushing for deeper integration when citizens want more lightweight integration
• Why European nations would be more likely to support one another in bilateral arrangements rather than through forced solidarity 
• Why the only way to save the European Union might be to let the euro fade away