Monetary house of cards

Asian countries should heed lessons of sovereign debt crisis in Europe and be prudent about adopting a single currency

With a debt crisis emerging in Italy, the third largest European economy and the world's seventh largest, the eurozone sovereign debt crisis that broke out at the end of 2009 is clearly escalating rather than subsiding. Its effects, if unchecked, will likely stunt the development of eurozone countries and the European Union (EU) as a whole.

European countries' rush to push for economic integration disregarding their specific individual conditions has served as the main cause of the current debt crisis in some EU countries.