Two-tier EU a realistic, dangerous possibility

With Germany in charge, Europe is being split between creditors and debtors, writes George Soros

EUROPE has been in a financial crisis since 2007. When the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers endangered the credit of financial institutions, private credit was replaced by the credit of the state, revealing an unrecognised flaw in the euro.

By transferring their right to print money to the ECB, member countries exposed themselves to the risk of default, like Third World nations heavily indebted in a foreign currency. Commercial banks loaded with weaker countries’ government bonds became potentially insolvent.