The euro zone’s heterogeneity must be prevented from increasing after the coronavirus crisis

The euro zone’s heterogeneity increased after the 2008-2009 subprime crisis: after this crisis, there was an increase in the dispersion between the countries’ per capita income levels, productivity levels, weights of industry, investment levels, competitiveness levels, etc. This increase in the heterogeneity between the euro-zone countries after the subprime crisis was primarily caused by the inability to prevent a public debt crisis and a new external balance constraint for the peripheral euro-zone countries, which reduced their investment capacity. So how can the coronavirus crisis be prevented from further increasing the heterogeneity between the euro-zone countries? With lasting action by the ECB to prevent a widening of sovereign yield spreads; With public debt mutualisation combined with a solidarity mechanism that enabled the countries hit the hardest by the crisis (Spain comes to mind with its exposure to tourism and the automotive sector) or the countries with the least capacity to respond (Italy comes to mind with its very high public debt ratio) to receive a substantial share of the funds obtained through the issuance of mutualised bonds; With a policy to reshore strategic industries in Europe th at also targeted the most deprived regions.