In May 2004 the European Union will undergo the largest expansion in its history when ten countries--Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia--become members. The number of new members and their diversity make this "big bang"...

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...

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 European Union began with efforts in the Cold War era to foster economic integration among a few Western European countries. Today’s EU constitutes an upper tier of government that affects almost every level of policymaking in each of its twenty-seven member states. The recent financial...

The trend toward privatization, which began with privatization experiments in the UK under Margaret Thatcher and the deregulation of the telecommunications sector in the United States, has attracted the attention of policymakers over the past two decades. Privatization is broadly supported by...

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 leaders of European Union member states have declared that a European constitution should take "a clear, open, effective, democratically controlled Community approach." Their goal that within the Union, "European institutions should be brought closer to its citizens" raises many questions...

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...