The launch of the euro reinforces the foundations for unprecedented economic integration encompassing 11 countries, 16 per cent of world GDP and 290 million people. For the first time, the OECD has studied the euro-area as a fully-fledged economic entity and has analysed the intensive...

In the long aftermath of the acute global financial crisis of 2008/09, the need to get economies back on track and to handle high levels of public and private debt has created conflicting objectives. Challenges yet to be mastered are the need to avoid counterproductive measures of adjustment and...

pt. 1. The stability merits of the euro -- pt. 2. A case for rapid euro adoption? -- pt. 3. The euro area- a shelter? Euro assets- a safe haven? -- pt. 4. Lessons- from euro area divergences, and from the crisis -- pt. 5. Post-crisis business models of banks in CEE

In this paper we analyze European business cycles before and under EMU. Across the two periods we find 1) a significant decline in real exchange rate volatility, 2) significant changes in cross-country correlations, and 3) the volatility of macroeconomic fundamentals largely unchanged. We...