The EU agrees on a Hamilton-ish $2T spending package for its economy

Angela Merkel must've watched Hamilton... EU leaders just agreed on a €1.8T ($2T) stimulus package to support their ailing economy. The Eurozone economy shrank 14.4% this year, compared to America's 4.8% drop. Months-long lockdowns and near-zero tourism crushed the bloc. Enter...

• The package: $450B offered as grants (aka "free" money) and $415B as loans (aka debt). Also: $1.15T for a joint EU budget that'll run from 2021-2027.
• The goal: Mediterranean countries were hit way harder than Northern ones. The package is meant to help them recover while not racking up insane amounts of debt.
• The opposition: Some members (cough, the Netherlands) worry the deal could turn the EU into a money-transfer union, where richer states bail out more indebted ones.

"I'm just like my countr(ies)"... Europe isn't young or particularly scrappy, but it's hungry...for relief. ICYMI, Hamilton (aka the US' 1st Treasury secretary) got the US federal government to absorb states' debt. The EU is kinda emulating this:

• It's the EU's 1st big issuance of common debt. The EU has a monetary union, not a fiscal union. 19 of the EU's 17 countries share the Euro as a common currency, and the European Central Bank controls interest rates and money supply (like the Fed in the US).
• Member countries usually do their own fiscal policy. That involves things like taxation and government spending.
• This unprecedented fiscal partnership could tighten the economic bond. Buuut: it still needs approval by individual parliaments.