There are a number of factors that are generally agreed to have a role to play in the story of Ireland's recent success. These include the long-term consequences of the fiscal stabilisation of the late 1980s, the European Structural Funds, the increased educational attainment of the workforce,...

The processes that will drive the next stage of the Czech transition are likely to be similar to those promoting real convergence in the Eu cohesion countries. We draw on previous modelling research on the cohesion economies to construct and calibrate a small macrosectoral model of the Czech...

De Grauwe follows McKinnon in arguing that "for a very open economy the exchange rate is a particularly ineffective instrument." Since most countries are becoming more open this suggests that the exchange rate instrument is declining in importance. We identify a set of circumstances under which...

Traditionally, Economists tought of high unemployment as a cyclical phenomenon; unemployment would eventually moderate wage demands and thereby open up new employment opportunities. Hysterisis suggests however that workers who become long term unemployed find it extremely difficult, if not...

This paper studies the impact of economic and monetary union on the cohesion process, and specifically on the four cohesion countries - Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Trade integration, or economic union, is judged likely to promote cohesion. Monetary union has more ambiguous effects. The...

There is virtually unanimous agreement that trade integration within the European Union is to everyone's advantage. No such unanimity exists however over the net benefits, or the distribution of benefits, likely to flow from monetary union. Intense debate continues, both at the theoretical and...