One of the most unexpected global monetary developments in the past decade has been the emergence of decentralized virtual currencies. Bitcoin, the largest and best known of the decentralized virtual currencies, has well-documented market properties—including its use as an international...

The statutes of the European Central Bank (ECB) stipulate that it should have recourse to national central banks (NCBs) to carry out monetary policy operations. Such a structure would not be a problem if these operations were all identical across member states and if the resulting profits and...

Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Rationale of Central Banks -- 2 Governance Structure of Central Banks.-3 Public Governance of Central Banks -- 4 Governance of Monetary Policy -- 5 Ownership of Prudential Policy -- 6 Role of Central Banks in Financial Crisis Management -- 7 Scope and...

In the context of the eurocrisis and its current management, the long 'road to Social Europe' appears to has become a dead end. The present volume explores in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary way the processes and driving forces at the root of the current social downward spiral. It examines...