The economics of the euro area. Macroeconomic policy and institutions

Book abstract:

The start of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) may be considered the most remarkable step in the post-war monetary history of Europe. On 1 January 1999, 11 currencies were irrevocably linked and a new currency, the euro was born. This book examines the monetary integration of the group of countries which constitute the Economic and Monetary Union. The book is divided into three parts. Part one analyses the development of the euro area from an historical perspective and examines the criteria for the first eleven countries to qualify for EMU and speculates whether the same countries would have joined if the qualification date had been a year later. Part two considers purely macroeconomic aspects of the euro area including the degree of real convergence in the euro area; leading indicators for inflation; the short-run and long-run determinants of the euro area's current account; the euro area's financial markets and implications for the international role of the euro. Part three looks at the organisational structure and internal procedures of the European system of central banks; the Eurosystem's single monetary policy strategy; fiscal policy and the Stability and Growth pact; exchange rate policy issues.

This book will be of interest to scholars and policy makers in the areas of European studies, macroeconomic policy and financial economics.

Peter A.G.van Bergeijk works for the UBS Group Economic Research, Switzerland and is also Professor of Economic Policy at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. Ron J. Berndsen and W. Jos Jansen are in the Monetary and Economic Policy Department at De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam