Hamilton, the EU and the Upside to Shared Debt

I suggested in a recent article that better coordination of policies by member nations would attract investments to the euro zone. Specifically, if recently elected President Emmanuel Macron could make reforms to the tax system and the labor market, France would be on the same page as Germany, the region’s largest economy. In turn, such measures would reduce risks for investors and increase economies of scale for producers, who would find equally business-friendly policies in the two neighboring countries.

Germany’s structural reforms date to 2003, when then-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder initiated changes that have since made the country’s low unemployment rate the envy of the developed world. Its labor relations are considered to be among the best in the world, and France would have to take several steps to move toward the German ideal.