The End of the Euro

How the crisis in Greece could lead to the demise of Europe's most ambitious project.

Crisis--from the Greek "krisis," for a turning point in a disease--is one of many English words we owe to the ancient Athenians. Now their modern descendants are reminding us what it really means.

Just when it seemed safe to start using the word "recovery," a Greek crisis is threatening the world economy, and the very existence of the world's second-biggest currency.

The euro seemed like such a good idea just 10 years ago. Europe had already achieved remarkable levels of integration as a trading bloc, to say nothing of its consolidation as a legal community. Monetary union offered all kinds of alluring benefits. It would end forever the exchange-rate volatility that had bedeviled the continent since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system of fixed rates in the 1970s. No more annoying and costly currency conversions for travelers and businesses. And greater price transparency would improve the flow of intra-European trade.

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