> In terms of the Euro, I find it more useful to view the Eurozone as somewhat similar to the US. There's one central monetary policy for really large economies that in a different environment, would have liked to do things independently. It's especially relevant now as US states have GDPs comparable to the Eurozone constituent nations.
There is an enormous difference, though: internal mobility/identity.
Germans tend to strongly prefer living in Germany. Greeks tend to strongly prefer living in Greece.
People in Oregon and New Hampshire tend not to have very strong affection for their state.
Which means that, if one area is economically depressed at the same time that another area is booming, the problem tends to sort itself out as people move from the struggling area and to the prosperous one.
In Europe, that just doesn't happen to nearly the same extent.
> People in Oregon and New Hampshire tend not to have very strong affection for their state.
Did you miss the article last week on HN where 60% of American adults live within 10 miles of where they grew up? People in the US absolutely have a strong affinity for their states. Just as in the EU, they may choose to leave for better opportunities however.
People in Oregon and New Hampshire tend not to have very strong affection for their state.
This sounds like the opinion of a European who has never actually lived in the US. People are much more married to their states than it seems that you'd believe.
While someone from (say) Connecticut might not think much of moving to Maine, they would probably feel different about moving to Iowa, Washington, or Alabama.
Here's one of the various maps I've seen of US cultural regions: [0]
It seems to be accurate for the areas I know anything about; I can't speak for it in other places.
Just bringing your stuff with you from one state to another could make you a felon, making people very locked in from moving across certain states. Someone in Idaho would become a felon for bringing their (Idaho legal) AR-15 into California while the person in California would become a felon for bringing their (California legal) weed plant into Idaho.
A lot of these states have backdoor ways of keeping out culturally incompatible folks from moving state to state by making mere victimless possession of certain items disproportionately linked to certain American cultures into felonies.
Lots of young people in Greece who actually want a job and career prospects move.
This is not new in the 17th century Dutch VOC ships were crewed by destitute Swedes and Germans. Mobility in Europe is high which is why you can get excellent baklava and spaghetti as far as Helsinki. This is why the European Union makes sense.
I can't comment on Europe simply because I haven't lived there, but in my experience the US isn't at all like you mention. Sure, there might be states where people are willing to move, but if you think of cultural regions more and states less, people never leave certain areas their entire lives. I'm talking about areas like PNW, New England, Upper Midwest, Southern states and so on. This is very similar to your case, it is just that the US is far more fragmented in some sense, and some states can be similar to others.
California and Washington are the major sources (of course!) but (1) California is not PNW, and (2) places other than CA/WA contribute many more migrants.
There is an enormous difference, though: internal mobility/identity.
Germans tend to strongly prefer living in Germany. Greeks tend to strongly prefer living in Greece.
People in Oregon and New Hampshire tend not to have very strong affection for their state.
Which means that, if one area is economically depressed at the same time that another area is booming, the problem tends to sort itself out as people move from the struggling area and to the prosperous one.
In Europe, that just doesn't happen to nearly the same extent.