"The euro crisis is first and foremost a banking crisis."

"The euro crisis is first and foremost a banking crisis."

-- Barry Eichengreen, 3/2/2011, here

"The eyes of our citizens are not yet sufficiently open to the true cause of our distresses. They ascribe them to every thing but their true cause, the banking system; a system, which, if it could do good in any form, is yet so certain of leading to abuse, as to be utterly incompatible with the public safety and prosperity. At present all is confusion, uncertainty and panic."

-- Thomas Jefferson, 6/22/1819, here

"The Euro Crisis is First and Foremost a Banking Crisis"

"Essentially, all Germany and France want to achieve with these [austerity and bailout] measures is to protect their own banks from collapsing. Now people are beginning to realize that there is no way around rescheduling Greece's debt -- and that will also involve the banks. For this to happen, there is only one solution: Europe needs to strengthen its banks! Greece lived beyond its means, but in Ireland and Spain it is the banks that are the problem. The euro crisis is first and foremost a banking crisis. ... Europe's banks are in far greater danger than people realize."

-- Barry Eichengreen, quoted here