二十世纪三十年代，欧洲大陆面临同样残酷的经济衰退。 如今，欧盟、特别是欧元的存在本身就已经防止了当时破坏欧洲的各国货币竞相贬值以及让邻国贫困的政策。
The very existence of our Union, and particularly of the euro, has already helped to prevent the competitive devaluations and beggar-thy-neighbor policies that ravaged Europe during the 1930’s – the last time the continent faced so brutal an economic downturn.