Includes bibliographical references (pages [207]-210) and index.

Introduction: The trouble with Europe -- Part I: Past history and present purpose -- How the EU came into being and why -- The trouble with the EU as a political institution -- Part II: The economics of the EU -- Has the EU been an economic success? -- The role of the euro -- Europe's economic future -- Part III: Reform, dissolution or departure -- Reform or dissolution? -- The costs and benefits of leaving the EU -- What institutional arrangements could take the EU's place? -- Postscript: History moves on.

After the carnage of two world wars, and the polarization of the globe between the emergent superpowers, Europe's leaders had a noble dream of founding a new union that would contain its members destructive tendencies, but also act as a beacon of free trade, human rights and cooperation. As this organization attracted new countries, including Britain in the 1970s, the European Economic Community eventually became the European Union, and a seemingly inevitable march toward a federal super-state began, culminating in the creation of the totemic, but economically suspect single currency: the euro.