Despite the experience of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis, European banks continue to hold large amounts of bonds from their home governments. This ties the fates of the sovereign and the banks together, leading to the disruptive self-reinforcing feedback loops that brought the euro area to...

This chapter highlights key shortcomings and failures of Europe's Economic and Monetary Union - essentially the most advanced case of regional integration in the world, inspiring numerous other initiatives including among developing countries, but fatally flawed and limited. The European...