The euro area has experienced an unprecedented economic downturn and exceptional financial market turmoil in the past few years. Policymakers have faced the twin challenges of addressing cyclical economic weakness--not unlike other industrial countries following the global economic crisis--and...

Among member states, many structural weaknesses were exposed when economic performance declined significantly and financial markets became more discerning. This book focuses on the analytical underpinnings of real-time policy advice given to euro area policymakers during four cycles of the IMF's...

Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Contributors -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- PART I: THE LEGACIES OF THE CRISIS -- 1 Investment in the Euro Area: Why Has It Been Weak? -- 2 Indebtedness and Deleveraging in the Euro Area -- 3 Rebalancing: Where Do We Stand and...