Background of the Great Euro Crash

(European Politicians, Robin Hood Tax/Flickr)

With Cyprus now the latest crisis in the Euro saga, I went looking for a clear and historical overview on how Europe got into this financial, economic, and political trouble. I found it in a well-documented TV program by the BBC's Robert Preston, The Great Euro Crash, aired last year but still very informative and relevant. It shows clearly that the cultural and economic differences among the various member states were far too great to have them join a single currency, and that this was a political decision often ignoring the economic realities.

"..Talking to historians, economists and politicians, (this film) takes a long view of the euro - from Churchill's vision of a Uniteda States of Europe to the bail-outs of Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Meeting a property developer in Ireland, a taxi driver in Rome and a German manufacturing worker, the film exposes the high cost being paid by European workers today for the dream of monetary union - and how close Europe came to a complete banking meltdown..."  

Now a year later, after many experts and pundits believed late 2012 that the worst was over, it seems that with the political uncertainties in Italy, ongoing problems in Greece and Spain, and now with the troubled rescue of Cyprus, the risk for the Euro and its financial system still is fully alive. To get a historic understanding how this all happened starting after World War II, view this documentary: