The question whether European Monetary Union should include all the EC countries from the start or should initially be limited to a few core countries is again being discussed more intensely. What advantages would a small EMU have from an economic point of view? Which countries should be its...

Assuming the convergency criteria are not watered down, European Monetary Union will begin on 1.1.1999 with just a few core countries. With the help of the theory of clubs, Professor F. L. Sell analyses the incentive effects of the "monetary club" on founding members and "outsiders".

The belief that the ECB follows the US Federal Reserve in setting its policy is so entrenched with market participants and commentators that the search for empirical support would seem to be a trivial task. However, this is not the case. We find that the ECB is indeed often influenced by the...