We revisit the subject of country-level macroeconomic adjustment in the euro area in the absence of autonomous monetary and exchange rate policy. We discuss how the procyclical real interest rate mechanism and the competitiveness channel of adjustment interact with various aspects of...

This paper analyses the smoothing of asymmetric shocks to output for a sample of OECD countries. It also examines whether the private capital markets will be able to replace the government in providing output smoothing in the euro-area, in the near future. The research finds no evidence of large...

The paper addresses the question what effects the enlargement of a monetary union will have on necessary structural refoms in the (low distortion) member countries and the (high distortion) candidate country. While monetary union lowers reforms in the candidate country, members of the monetary...