The efficiency of institutions, understood in the sense of constraint optimization, does not make much sense when discussing the New Institutional Economics (NIE), i. e., under conditions in which institutions matter. For such a world one has to use non-optimizing methods to assess the economic...

The development of the European Monetary Union is related to Milton Friedman's critique of the Bretton Woods System that started a vigorous debate about “fixed versus flexible exchange rates.” This paper contrasts briefly the arguments pro and con flexible exchange rates at this time. After...

This paper starts with a brief description of the situation before the establishment of the European Monetary Union (EMU), i.e., the problems of the European Monetary System (EMS) which was established in 1979 and was in need of repair. The paper then deals with the various possibilities of...

The efficiency of institutions, understood in the neoclassical sense, i.e., as the result of constraint optimization of a neoclassical economy is pointless from the perspective of the New Institutional Economics, because the latter assumes incomplete foresight. For such a world one cannot use...