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 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...

Economic performance and stabilization policy in a monetary union with imperfect labor and goods' markets / Fabrizio Coricelli, Alex Cukierman, and Alberto Dalmazzo ; Discussant: Erkki Koskela -- Asymmetric transmission of monetary policy: what should the ECB do if one size does not fit all? /...

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...

Economists argue that such market-based policy instruments as environmental taxes and emission trading systems are the best way to target the negative effects of pollution. Yet there is no agreement about whether the use of these instruments is sufficient, whether they are deployed efficiently,...

In recent decades, governments have built up substantial public debt, which is often accompanied by a growing public sector and fiscal policies that neglect long-term considerations. The contributors to this CESifo volume consider whether the development of public debt in the United States and...

Intro -- Contents -- Contributors -- Series Foreword -- 1 Introduction: Still More Questions Than Answers -- 2 A Picture of European Unemployment: Success and Failure -- 3 The Continent's High Unemployment: Possible Institutional Causes and Some Evidence -- 4 From Excess to Shortage-Recent...

Intro -- Contents -- Contributors -- Series Foreword -- Chapter 1. The Continuing Evolution of Europe: Introduction and Overview -- The Financial Crisis: A Risk for the Euro Area -- Global Constraints -- Industrial Policy: The Role of National Champions -- Reforming the European Welfare State --...