EMU, financial markets and the world economy

Book abstract:

This book offers a collection of essays which analyse the theoretical and policy issues associated with the far-reaching implications of Economic and Monetary Union. Most of the papers appearing in this volume were presented at a conference ' EMU and the Outside World' which was held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in December 1998.

The papers are grouped together under four broad headings which discuss different areas which will be affected by EMU. The first part examines the likely consequences of the euro for the international monetary system with a discussion of its role as an international currency and the level and long-run volatility of its rate of exchange against other major currencies

The influence of EMU on European capital markets is discussed in part two of the book with a discussion of how diversification opportunities, bank portfolio choices and financial markets will all be affected by the euro

Part three examines the implications of the institutional design of EMU on macroeconomic policy with an analysis of how asymmetric shocks will be absorbed, the impact of monetary integration on inflation, the possible international spillover effects of U.S. macroeconomic shocks and how fiscal policy in the EU will be affected

The final part of the book examines how countries outside the euro area may be affected by EMU, with a particular focus on countries in Central and Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean basin, in Africa, and in the Middle East.

Due to this book's emphasis on the economic implication of EMU this book is more suited for students of economics with an interest in EMU than for those on a more general European Studies course.