Discussions of costs and benefits of EMU usually rely on the optimum currency area approach: when external shocks hit the economy, it is easier to adjust the exchange rate than domestic prices or wages. We find that external shocks have little impact on unemployment, but are more important to...

What policy objective should a common central bank in a heterogeneous monetary union pursue? Should it base its decisions on the EU-wide average of inflation and growth or should it instead focus on (appropriately weighted) national rates of inflation and growth? We find that a central bank that...

This study investigates the shock-absorbing properties of a banking union. It makes a detailed comparison between the way in which banking unions have absorbed regional financial shock at the federal level in the USA, but have led to severe regional (national) financial dislocation and tensions...