[pgeorgi]

> it was conceived as a way to boost the German economy (before Euro the German mark was just too strong

Interesting theory, but I wonder when the German economy was so strong that Germany forced the rest of Europe to agree to the Euro:

When the first plans for an economic and monetary union within the EEC were brought up in 1969?

Or in 1979, when European currencies were pegged against the ECU, stabilizing exchange rates (and taking large parts of monetary policy out of the member states' hands)?

Maybe in 1989 when France made German reunification depend on Germany committing to the monetary union?