Carlo Bastasin, an economist and journalist, reveals the unknown events that have happened behind the scenes in European capitals during the ongoing financial crisis, beginning in 2008 with the collapse of major financial institutions. He argues that the crisis in the euro-zone has a political origin in the abuses of national politics unable to cope with the pressure of globalization. Moreover, the crisis is reinforced even now by the obstinate defense of national prerogatives in politics and finance and by the lack of commitment for shared or supranational sovereignty. While the consensus view is that monetary union was a flawed project and must be amended, Bastasin shows that the failures have to do almost entirely with national opportunism —not only in Greece but everywhere, not least in Germany. Saving Europe is the first major book on these momentous developments and their likely ramifications. Bastasin's compelling work is an engrossing historical chronicle, weaving moments of high drama with individual personalities on the world stage. Germany chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and British prime minister Gordon Brown play central roles. This is also a scholarly attempt to make larger sense of what happened —and what could happen next. Given the critical role and importance of Europe within the world economy as well as growing speculation that the euro might disappear, this is essential reading for anyone trying to grasp international economics. Just as important, it is a fascinating tale of people, personalities, and power. There is no other book like it.

Saving Europe: How National Politics Nearly Destroyed the Euro

Bastasin, Carlo

History

Brookings Institution Press

Saving Europe: Anatomy of a Dream

In this gripping narrative, Carlo Bastasin reconstructs the main political decisions of the euro crisis, unveiling the hidden interests and the secret diplomacy behind the scene. The European dream was both the rejection of war and the creation of a new spirit of peaceful cooperation. Yet confrontation has been the hallmark of the euro crisis, and national opportunistic gimmicks have driven the awkward attempts to solve the crisis itself. Today, Europe is in a crisis of democracy, which Bastasin has dubbed, "the first War of Interdependence of the global age." 
 Praise for the first edition of Saving Europe Bastasin does an admirable job in analysing the euro-zone's economic challenges and is a sure-footed guide through the seemingly endless European Union summit meetings that were supposed to resolve them. He also has an eye for the human detail that makes his sad account of institutional muddle surprisingly compelling. — Financial Times
 Bastasin's book is worth reading for its detailed political narrative of the eurozone crisis to date, focusing on the interaction among decision-makers in Europe's capitals. — Foreign Affairs 
 A reconstruction that may be considered definitive. Revelations on the European negotiations are written with talent and go hand in hand with no-esoteric economic analysis and with the right amount of realism to reach the political substance. —Corriere della Sera
 Anyone looking for general knowledge and deeper understanding of the crisis, I can recommend a formidable analysis by Carlo Bastasin: Saving Europe. The author is a very unusual combination of a qualified economist and driven journalism. —Svenska Dagbladet

Business & Money

Economics

Carlo Bastasin and Gianni Toniolo provide a much-needed, up-to-date economic history of Italy from unification in 1861 to the present day. They show how, thirty years after unification, Italy began a long phase of convergence with more advanced economies so that by the late twentieth century Italy's per capita income reached the levels of Germany, France and the UK. From the mid-1990s, however, the Italian economy declined first in relative and then absolute terms. The authors describe the intertwined financial and institutional crises that eroded trust in the political system and in the economy at the exact juncture when new technologies and markets transformed the global economy. Longstanding problems of uneven levels of education and obsolete bureaucratic and judicial practices deepened the division between economically vibrant regions and the rest, causing polarization, political instability and rising public debt. Italy's contemporary malaise makes the country a test-case for understanding the implications of protracted declines in productivity and the flattening of GDP growth for the stability of western democracies, resulting in populism, mistrust and political instability.

The Rise and Fall of the Italian Economy (New Approaches to Economic and Social History)

Cambridge University Press

Viaggio al termine dell'occidente

Luiss University Press

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