From time to time, non-European investors believe that the euro will break up, but that is not true
We can identify periods when non -European investors believe that the euro will break up since, during these periods, capital flows out from the euro zone, a short position in the euro appears and the euro depreciates , and the euro-zone countries’ sovereign risk premia and equity risk premia diverge between the core and the peripheral euro-zone countries. Since 2006, such expectations of a break-up of the euro appeared in 2008, in 2011-2012, in 2015-2016, and in 2018. But non-European investors should understand that the euro will not break up : the fact that the euro-zone countries have very substantial gross external assets and debt in euros makes an exit from the euro or a break-up of the euro far too costly.