Building on his work as a leading member of the renowned Research on Money & Finance group Costas Lapavitsas presents a searing critique of the neoliberal nature of the Eurozone & ruthlessly dissects the roots of the current financial turmoil & the European debt crisis. Lapavitsas argues that European austerity is contradictory because it leads to recession & worsens the burden of debt further imperilling banks & the monetary union itself. Controversially Lapavitsas suggests that impoverished states would be wise to quit the Euro & pursue debtor-led sovereign & democratic default that would lead to deep cancellation of debt. Lapavitsas envisages a restructuring relying on the forces of organized labor & civil society drawing on the theoretical tradition of political economy & heterodox economics & treading a careful path between declining Europeanism & nascent nationalism.