Feedback mechanisms are the key to sequencing when it comes to regional integration; can mean that today's policy or institution alters the political-economy landscape in a way that makes it politically optimal for future governments to take further steps toward integration - even when these...

Mitten in der Griechenland-Krise haben die Präsidenten der fünf wichtigsten europäischen Institutionen Vorschläge für eine weitere Integration der Europäischen Währungsunion unterbreitet. Sie beziehen sich dabei auf die Wirtschafts-, Finanzmarkt- und Bankenunion und gehen sogar so weit,...

A multilateral currency union removes the intraregional exchange rates but not the union rate variability with the rest of the world. The intraregional exchange rate variability is thus latent. A two-step procedure is developed to measure the variability. The measured variables are used to model...

The global financial crisis which erupted in the United States instantaneously swept across Europe. Like the United States, the European Monetary Union (EMU) was ripe for a crash. It had its own real estate bubble, specifically in Ireland and Spain, indulged in excessive deficit spending,...

We use consumer price data for 81 European cities (in Germany, Austria, Finland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland) to study the impact of the introduction of the euro on goods market integration. Employing both aggregated and disaggregated consumer price index (CPI) data we confirm...

Current European integration very much focusses on harmonisation and convergence. This streamlining goes far beyond what is demanded by economic reasoning and turns out - as the euro crisis has demonstrated - to foster tensions among EU member states instead of promoting a flourishing common...

The aim of our paper is to contribute to the debate on optimal fiscal rules in a monetary union: in terms of global budgetary deficit, of structural budgetary deficit, or of public debt. Indeed, these rules seem to be mixed in the framework of the European Economic and Monetary Union, with the...

Evidence suggests there is a strong tendency among states to choose fixed exchange rates. Yet he interpretation of fixed exchange rates as a monetary policy rule remains unconvincing. Adopting an endogenous policy perspective, this paper argues that political-support maximizing governments...

The establishment of a Capital Markets Union (CMU) is a high-priority project of the European Commission. CMU should foster additional non-bank sources of finance, mobilize private savings more efficiently and enhance capital market integration. Although more integration is needed, the...

This paper develops a model of the circumstances under which it is beneficial to participate in a currency area. The proposed two-country monetary model of trade with nominal rigidities encompasses the real and monetary arguments suggested by the optimum currency area literature: correlation of...