E.U. proposes $825 billion coronavirus rescue plan giving Brussels power to raise money for first time

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders on Wednesday proposed an $825 billion coronavirus rescue plan that would give Brussels major new tax and spending powers of the sort held by a federal state.

Proponents are calling it Europe’s “Hamiltonian moment,” after the 1790 agreement, engineered by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, that transformed the United States from a loose confederation of former colonies into a true federation with a central government.