The Rotten Heart of Europe - Softcover

'The Brussels Commission has just suspended its senior economist, Bernard Connolly, for writing a book savaging the prospects for a common currency. There are many who now believe he should be lauded as a prophet.' Observer, Editorial, 1 October 1995 'Mr. Connolly's longstanding proposition that the foisting of a common currency upon so many disparate nations would end in ruin is getting a much wider hearing...' New York Times, 17 November 2011 When first published in 1995, The Rotten Heart of Europe caused outrage and delight - here was a Brussels insider, a senior EU economist, daring to talk openly about the likely pitfalls of European monetary union. Bernard Connolly lost his job at the Commission, but his book was greeted as a profound and persuasive expose of the would-be 'monetary masters of the world.' His brave act of defiance became headline news - and his book a major international bestseller. In a substantial new introduction, Connolly returns to his prophetic account of the double-talk surrounding the efforts of politicians, bankers and bureaucrats to force Europe into a crippling monetary straitjacket. Hidden agendas are laid bare, skulduggery exposed and economic fallacies are skewered, producing a horrifying conclusion. No one who wants to understand the workings of the EU, past, present and future can afford to miss this enthralling and deeply disturbing book.

Bernard Connolly, born in Manchester in 1949. He worked for many years in the European Commission, becoming head of the unit responsible for analysis of the European Monetary System. The Wall Street Journal Europe named him as one of its outstanding Europeans of the year, 1995. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of Canada, identified him as one of only a handful of economists to have accurately predicted the crisis. Derek Scott, economic adviser to Tony Blair, said of him that he understood the macroeconomic issues facing the world "better than any economist on the planet". As CEO of Connolly Insight, LP, Bernard Connolly now lives in New York.