????歐元區(qū)危機已處于失控邊緣。兩年多來，歐元區(qū)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人和歐洲央行（European Central Bank）既不愿意、也沒有能力解決困擾歐元的真正結(jié)構(gòu)性問題。隨著歐元區(qū)外圍成員國的銀行擠兌風(fēng)險隱現(xiàn)，歐洲領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人是時候面對現(xiàn)實，著手全面整合經(jīng)濟了。

????歐洲領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人周三將舉行非正式會談，試圖化解歐洲銀行業(yè)不斷加深的信心危機。有些方案可能聽上去不錯，但如果沒有真正的財政和貨幣一體化，這些方案就難以落到實處。要實現(xiàn)財政和貨幣一體化，歐元區(qū)核心成員德國必須愿意無條件地承擔(dān)外圍國家債務(wù)。相應(yīng)的，外圍國家和核心成員必須愿意放棄對國家預(yù)算的控制權(quán)，拱手交給德國掌控的歐洲中央貨幣機構(gòu)。要進行這樣的改變絕非易事，但這會有助于拉動對這些陷入困境國家的投資，實現(xiàn)歐洲亟需的經(jīng)濟增長。

????自從2010年這場危機爆發(fā)以來，希臘人就一直在從希臘銀行里往外提錢。希臘銀行業(yè)的存款額已從當(dāng)時的2,500億歐元下降到如今僅1,770億歐元左右，下降近三分之一。但最近，隨著希臘大選前景撲朔迷離，希臘政客討論退出歐元區(qū)等等，希臘銀行業(yè)的存款外流速度開始加快。如果希臘真的退出歐元區(qū)，歐洲央行將停止為希臘銀行業(yè)提供資金，導(dǎo)致銀行破產(chǎn)。另外，在西班牙，當(dāng)?shù)匾患抑饕y行破產(chǎn)，加之穆迪（Moody's）下調(diào)西班牙銀行業(yè)評級，造成數(shù)十億歐元資金流出西班牙銀行業(yè)，尋找避風(fēng)港。雖然這算不上一波全面爆發(fā)的銀行擠兌潮，但存款已開始穩(wěn)步流出西班牙。

????銀行擠兌很少出現(xiàn)，因為大多數(shù)國家都擁有存款保障計劃，由政府提供擔(dān)保，承兌所有銀行賬戶一定限額的存款。在歐洲，歐洲央行承擔(dān)像美國聯(lián)邦儲備銀行（Federal Reserve）一樣的責(zé)任，向有流動性問題的銀行提供廉價貸款。但這些貸款必須由擁有最高評級的抵押品來擔(dān)保，而很多西班牙和希臘銀行缺少的正是這樣的抵押品。

????意大利總理馬里奧?蒙蒂上周末在戴維營（Camp David）舉行的八國峰會（G8）上提出了一個旨在解決歐元區(qū)資本外流問題的大膽計劃。他建議設(shè)立歐洲銀行存款機制，由歐洲央行擔(dān)保歐元區(qū)所有銀行的存款。這意味著希臘、西班牙的銀行獲得的保障等同于德國、荷蘭的銀行。

????蒙蒂的計劃大體不錯，并將在周三會議中進行討論，但這個計劃沒有談到如何解決銀行擠兌問題。希臘和西班牙國內(nèi)本來就有與其他歐元區(qū)國家類似的儲蓄保險制度。希臘人加速從本國銀行中取錢，不只是因為他們擔(dān)心銀行倒閉，還因為他們擔(dān)憂希臘可能退出歐元區(qū)。如果希臘退出歐元區(qū)，存在希臘銀行中的存款將被兌換成新貨幣，頃刻貶值。簡單地說，存在希臘銀行中的1歐元將不如存在德國銀行中的1歐元。

????The eurozone crisis is on the verge of spinning out of control. For over two years, European leaders and the European Central Bank have been both unwilling and unable to address the real structural issues that plague the common currency. But with the threat of a bank run looming in the periphery, it's now time for Europe's leaders to face reality and start moving toward full economic integration.

????European leaders are meeting Wednesday in an informal session to try and address the growing crisis of confidence in the European banking sector. Some of the solutions expected to be presented have merit, but they cannot realistically be implemented unless there is true fiscal and monetary integration. For this to happen, the core eurozone members, namely Germany, must be willing to take on the debts of the periphery nations with no caveats. In return, the periphery, along with the core members, must be willing to give up control of their national budgets to a central European monetary authority, with Germany at the helm. Such a change won't be easy, but it will serve to boost investment in the struggling countries and deliver the growth Europe so badly needs.

????Greeks have been steadily pulling their money out of their banks since the crisis began in 2010. Back then there was 250 billion euros deposited in Greek banks, while today there is only around 177 billion euros, nearly a third less. But recent uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Greek elections accelerated the deposit withdrawals as Greek politicians talked about leaving the euro. Such a scenario would force the ECB to stop funding Greek banks, causing them to collapse. Meanwhile, in Spain, the failure of a major local bank, along with a Moody's downgrade of the Spanish banking sector, caused billions of euros to leave Spanish banks for safer shores. While it wasn't a full on bank run, deposits have now started to trickle out of the country at a healthy clip.

????Bank runs are rare because most countries have deposit guarantee schemes whereby the government insures all bank accounts up to a certain value. In Europe, the ECB acts like the U.S. Federal Reserve by providing cheap loans to banks with liquidity issues. But those loans need to be backed by top-rated collateral, something that is in short supply at many Spanish and Greek banks.

????Italy's Prime Minister, Mario Monti, proposed a bold plan at the G8 summit at Camp David over the weekend to deal with this problem of internal capital flight within the eurozone. He made a case for the creation of a European bank deposit scheme whereby the ECB would essentially guarantee the deposits of all banks in the eurozone. That would mean Greek and Spanish banks would have the same level of protection as German and Dutch banks.

????Monti's plan, which will be discussed at length at Wednesday's meeting, has good bones, but it still doesn't go far enough to solve the bank run issue. Greece and Spain already have their own national deposit insurance, which is comparable to those in other eurozone nations. Greeks are pulling their money out of their banks at an accelerated pace, not only because they fear a bank failure, but also on concern that Greece might exit the euro. If that occurred, the deposits left in the Greek banking system would be converted to a new currency and would instantly be devalued. Simply put, a euro in a Greek bank is simply not worth as much as one in a German bank.