The following is a letter to the editor in response to an April 8 op-ed in The Financial Times on the possibility of countries opting to leave the eurozone.

Attempts at austerity and deleveraging in Europe have converted an economic problem into a political dilemma, with leftist governments rising against Germany's austerity-laced rescue packages. Germany now faces a tough economic decision that will involve choosing between a breakup of the current euro system and a movement toward a common fiscal policy in Europe.

After five years of wrenching economic recession, one has to wonder what it will take for Greece to cut itself loose from the failed IMF and EU policies that have reduced the country to its present terrible economic pass.

Can the current post-Bretton Woods international monetary system prevent a return to the beggar-thy-neighbor policies and competitive devaluations that so harmed international prosperity in the 1930s? What are the system's flaws? Can they be corrected, and if so, how? An expert panel will address these and related issues.

With each passing day, Greece's economic and political malaise deepens despite one massive International Monetary Fund-European Union bailout package after another to keep that country afloat.

There should not be an Americas currency bloc

China's new leadership is threatening to stay content with slower economic growth, and the country's manufacturing, housing, and export sectors are experiencing problems. Nonetheless, China has an opportunity to influence economic growth in 2012 through stimulus measures to its own economy.

Could the Renminbi replace the dollar as an international medium of exchange? In his latest Economic Outlook, John Makin explains why such fears are premature and unwarranted.