This book is an up-to-date, authoritative and comprehensive analysis of the key issues and challenges facing regional currency area projects in the context of financial globalization. The authors focus on several central issues that emerged during the experiences of the 1990s and 2000s: exchange...

This collection of essays is a state-of-the-art analysis of key issues confronting the European Union. Identifying European economic integration as one of the defining features of modern international economics, the authors examine many aspects and consequences of this integration which remain...

The paper argues that international differences in fiscal conditions influence the relative attractiveness of locating production facilities in different countries and could prove to be a troublesome source of instability for the European economies. Even though physical capital movements tend to...

The issue of whether constraints should be placed on fiscal policies when moving to European monetary union is examined in the context of the use of fiscal policy for macroeconomic stabilization purposes. Examples of shocks hitting French and German economies are considered: an appreciation of...

This paper reviews the pros and cons of institutionalized constraints limiting the freedom of national budgetary policies within an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe. The issue is approached from three angles: the influence of EMU on (i) budget discipline; (ii) intergenerational equity...

This book explores the origins, rationale, problems and prospects of the European fiscal policy framework. It provides the reader with a roadmap to EMU's budgetary framework by exploring its theoretical and empirical foundations, uncovering its historical roots and emphasising its supranational...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic activity in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) has accelerated since mid-2003 owing to an acceleration of activity in the tourism and construction sectors. Inflation has been stable and monetary aggregates have been expanding...

The staff report on discussions with regional institutions of the West African Economic and Monetary Union is presented. The region faced a number of challenges in 2011, with the intensification of the political crisis in Côte d’Ivoire and a large increase in global food and fuel prices. A...

1. Opening remarks -- 2. Fiscal policies and sustainability of public finances in the European Union -- 3. Fiscal policy challenges, sustainability of public finances and EU accession : the case of Turkey -- 4. Monetary policy in the Euro area : lessons from five years of the ECB and then...

Fiscal Policy and Interest Rates in the European Union is a comprehensive study concerned with the potential effects of fiscal policy on financial markets in the European Union. It takes into account the gradual liberalization of capital movements throughout Western Europe and the institutional...