Story highlights If Greece and Spain have such different approaches to fiscal prudence, Lisa Tripp asks why both are in crisis?

Something else is going on, she says: That something else, in large part, is the euro

Lisa Tripp is Associate Professor at John Marshall Law School, in Atlanta Georgia. Her recent article was "Lessons for Scotland from Greece's Euro-Tragedy." Her areas of expertise include Greece, the Eurozone and the U.S. healthcare system. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

(CNN) Europe is in the midst of a political and economic crisis that threatens to unravel decades of European integration and derail the world's recovery from the great recession. To understand this crisis, let's compare two countries.

Country A is a small nation with a long history of tax evasion, government debt defaults and a dysfunctional business and regulatory climate. It allows workers to retire in their 50s, and pays double pensions when they do. It lied about its budget to get into the eurozone.

Lisa Tripp

Country B is a large, historically powerful nation with a record of low government debt. Country B even ran budget surpluses, including a 2% surplus just before the financial crisis hit in 2008. It entered the eurozone with an honest accounting of its finances.

If you guessed that country A is Greece, you are correct. If you believe Greece has caused the crisis in Europe because of its fiscal irresponsibility, then you are safely in the mainstream opinion about the matter.

But what do we make of fiscally responsible country B? Its virtuousness must mean it is weathering the crisis. And it must be Germany, right?

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