Once the rioting becomes widespread you'll find the ECB finds itself under unbearable pressure to crash the Euro. The French have already dusted off the specific legal mechanism needed to force the ECBs hand.
A strong currency is a wonderful vanity but if Airbus can't make an aeroplane for export or VW make a car for export then practicality trumps vanity pretty quickly. The big question is wether this unprecedented experiment in currency union is able to survive the coming storm. 50:50 I reckon.
One thing is for sure; we won't see the EU take the strong and decisive moves that the Obama administration will be able to enact. Once again the US will show how its economy really is the most powerful one in the world by a very long chalk.
WWW
Europe's economy contracts at rates not seen since 1930s - Telegraph
Europe's economy contracts at rates not seen since 1930s
Dire day for Europe as Spain's jobless blasts through 3m and German industry goes into "free-fall"
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor
Last Updated: 9:10AM GMT 09 Jan 2009
German exports and industrial orders have both plunged at the steepest rate since modern records began and Spain's unemployment has surged above three million, capping one of the most disastrous days for Europe's economy since the Second World War...