After experiencing spectacular economic growth and industrial development for much of the postwar era, Japan plunged abruptly into recession in the early 1990s and since then has suffered a prolonged period of economic stagnation, from which it is only now emerging. Japan's malaise, marked by...

The transformation of Ireland from one of the poorer countries in Western Europe to one of the best performing is one of the most remarkable economic success stories in recent times. The ten papers in this collection were presented at a conference at Lehigh University in March 2001. Written from...

The success of European monetary integration-what the editors of this CESifo volume call "one of the most far-reaching, real world experiments in monetary policy to date"-is not assured. Policy makers have been forced to deal with challenges posed by formulating a uniform monetary policy for...

The process of monetary integration in Europe began amid widespread skepticism among economists about the project. But today the success of the euro has prompted a reconsideration of whether monetary unions should be implemented elsewhere. This CESifo volume assesses contemporary theoretical and...