Eurozone Collapse 'Will Send Continent into Depression’

London Telegraph
Friday, November 11, 2011

The collapse of the eurozone would cause a crash that would instantly wipe out half of the value of Europe’s economy, plunging the continent into a depression as deep as the 1930s slump, the president of the European Commission has warned.

José Manuel Barroso issued his chilling warning as France began diplomatic overtures to create a eurozone vanguard, potentially with fewer than the 17 existing members of the single currency.

Mr Barroso said that if the euro area of the 17 member states or the wider 27-country EU broke apart the estimated initial cost would be up to 50 per cent of European gross domestic product. “It would jeopardize the future prosperity of the next generation. That is the threat that hangs over us,” he said.

In a speech in Berlin aimed at tackling any support for a smaller elite eurozone comprised of the EU’s strongest economies, Mr Barroso warned that the consequence of a split would be a million lost jobs in Germany. (Read more)