The Euro Has Been Very Good — for Germany

Charts from The New York Times - please follow link to original
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The Euro Has Been Very Good — for Germany

In the first years of the euro, which was introduced in 1999, countries on the edge of the euro zone benefited economically more than Germany. But over the last five years, the situation has been reversed. The charts show data for euro zone countries divided into four groups. Germany and France, the two largest countries, are shown individually. Five Northern Europe economies, which some have speculated could join Germany and France in a new “strong euro” zone, are shown as a group labeled “Northern countries.” The other 10 countries are combined in a group labeled “Peripheral countries.” These include all the countries currently receiving European assistance, as well as Spain, Italy and other countries.

Note: The northern countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The peripheral countries are Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain. The zone began on Jan. 1, 1999, with 13 members. Greece joined at the beginning of 2001, Slovenia at the beginning of 2007, Cyprus and Malta at the beginning of 2008 and Slovakia at the beginning of 2009. The newer members are included as if they had been in the zone throughout the period.