This paper questions the link between the establishment of a common currency among several countries and the necessity of political coordination. It begins by discussing why conducting a single monetary policy is thought to be easier within a single political unit. It then proceeds to enquire...

Why has firm activity been slow to recover from the Great Recession? I present theoretical and empirical evidence suggesting long-term uncertainty may be one reason. Specifically, I show the current level of uncertainty and expectations of future uncertainty -- that is, the entire term structure...