How the Euro Was Saved

A year of evolving ideas

Those who spoke to Ms Merkel at the time said her reservations about Mr Monti’s scheme were rooted in her view of how the eurozone should work. It was not the role of politicians to set bond rates. The ECB deciding such a plan on its own, on the other hand, was an appropriate decision for an independent central bank to make.

But many officials, particularly those who worked with her team in other eurozone capitals, argued Ms Merkel’s ultimate embrace of Mr Draghi’s programme capped a year-long shift of thinking in Berlin. If Germany’s original vision of the eurozone – no bailouts, no shared debts and, in some quarters, no Greece – was becoming unachievable, Berlin was going to ensure that shared burdens came with centralised ...