The 'Five Presidents Report' cited in the title acknowledges that an important driver of the European economic crisis has been the faulty original design of the Monetary Union, and that substantial steps are urgently needed towards the creation of truly supranational institutions. Yet,...

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 increased U.S. patriotism, but did they affect voting behavior? Did fire, police, and EMS departments sense an opportunity to increase their funding after the highly-publicized rescue efforts? We find no evidence of more frequently proposed tax levies...

As the ultimate date set for the commencement of the third stage of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the adoption of the single currency approaches, technical, economic and political problems seem to grow in number and size. This paper focuses on one in particular: the regime governing the...

We analyze the political economy of monetary unification among countries with different quality of institutions. Countries with stronger institutions have lower public spending and better productive incentives, even under a stronger currency. Governments under weaker institutions spend more and...

We analyze the political economy of monetary unification among countries with different quality of institutions. Countries with stronger institutions have lower public spending and better investment incentives, even under a stronger currency. Governments under weaker institutions spend more so...

We analyze the political economy of monetary unification among countries with different quality of institutions. Countries with stronger institutions have lower public spending and better investment incentives, even under a stronger currency. Governments under weaker institutions spend more so...

The launch of the EMS, far from being the result of deep economic thinking, was the somewhat unexpected outcome of political initiative. The rather casual economic debate that took place at the time is appraised by examining some problems that were at the centre of the negotiations in 1978. Some...

This paper analyses the functioning of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). To that end, we apply duration models to estimate an eclectic specification that enables us to explicitly incorporated political and institutional factors into the explanation of European exchange rate policies....