The euro was adopted as legal tender, albeit in a virtual form, by 11 countries of the European Union on January 1, 1999, with the intention that notes and coins denominated in euros would be introduced and the national currencies would be phased out during the first six months of that year and...

This paper proposes an alternative stability and growth pact among European Union (EU) governments that would underpin the introduction of a single currency and a "single market" within the EU. The alternative pact embraces a number of new aspects of integration within the EU that are based on a...

This paper reconsiders the case for the use of fiscal policy based on a "functional finance" approach that advocates the use of fiscal policy to secure high levels of demand in the context of private aggregate demand, which would otherwise be too low. This "functional finance" view means that...

Recent developments in macroeconomic policy, in terms of both theory and practice, have elevated monetary policy while downgrading fiscal policy. Monetary policy has focused on the setting of interest rates as the key policy instrument, along with the adoption of inflation targets and the use of...

This paper provides remarks on modern monetary theory (MMT) from a Kaleckian perspective in response to a paper by Drumetz/Pfister. The distinction between initial financing and final financing is drawn up to argue for clear separation of how expenditure is financed and funded, and pointing to...

We reply to the critics who contributed the other papers in the same issue of this journal. In the first part of the article, we indicate those remarks addressed to us, which we deem inappropriate to answer. The second part deals with the remarks we find useful to answer, which relate to money,...

Within the framework of macroeconomic policy and theory over the past twenty years or so, a major shift has occurred regarding the relative importance given of monetary policy versus fiscal policy. The former has gained considerably in stature, while the latter is rarely mentioned. Further,...

This paper presents two issues: First, an effort to decipher the type of economic analysis and macroeconomic policies of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) theoretical and policy framework, which we suggest are essentially of the "new consensus" variety; Second, an argument that the...