When they relinquished their monetary autonomy, the members of the Euro Area hoped to accelerate economic integration and benefit from increased trade and freer movements of capital and labor. However, the union was built on imperfect institutions. Some of the risks had been anticipated; others had not, and when they materialized, the union was ill equipped to address them and nearly unraveled. In this talk, Edward Gardner '81, an assistant director in the IMF's European Department, presents a narrative of the Euro Area crisis and its ongoing resolution.

Gardner earned a B.A. from Swarthmore in economics and a Ph.D. from MIT in international economics.

This lecture honors the memory of Bernie Saffran, who taught and mentored generations of Swarthmore students until his death in 2004. He was the Franklin and Betty Barr Professor of Economics, served as the Economics Department chair from 1978 to 1983, and was actively involved in teaching and faculty governance at the time of his death.