Paul Krugman has an article Can Europe Be Saved? in The New York Times Magazine.

In the article he discusses how the European Monitary Union (the common currency called the Euro) is presenting challenges to the European Union in these troubling economic times.  The article is a primer on the history of how the union got started and how it has progressed from a smooth success to the current bumps in the road.

He discusses the similarities and differences between the Euro’s relation to the countries of Europe and the Dollar’s relation to the states of The United States.

He discusses the possible ways various countries in Europe could handle their problems.  With each route, he describes who will be the winners and who will be the losers.

I recommend the article for the information provided.  This is not an endorsement of the predictions nor a guarantee that everybody sees the situation as Krugman describes it.  Whatever the outcome of the story may end up to be, you have to start somewhere in educating yourself about the reality.  You might as well start with someone who has a record of not being too ideological ( and is open about whatever ideological bias he has ) when it comes to issues related to his field of expertise, Economics.