Is the European Community (EC) (already) a desirable currency area? There are two kinds of reasons why it may not. The first reason is that national propensities to inflate may be too different within the EC to permit the aboundonment of exchange-rate changes. Nominal exchange-rate changes are...

At the latest since 1978, international shifts in the demand for money have widely been recognized as a major problem for monetary-policy making under flexible exchange rates. To the extent that such shifts are unpredictable, the case for monetary preannouncement is weakened (Giersch, 1977; Girton,...

Using panel data for 106 countries in 1971-1997, we estimate generalized least squares regressions to explain IMF lending as well as monetary and fiscal policies in the recipient countries. With respect to moral hazard, we find that a country's rate of monetary expansion and its government...

Transcript of an interview with Roland Vaubel, who discusses the Euro as a creature of politics. He explains the particular political machinations behind its history, current state, and likely future.

The article provides a critical analysis of current plans (July 31, 2013) for i) a single supervisory mechanism, ii) the direct recapitalization of banks from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), iii) a single resolution mechanism and fund and iv) a single deposit insurance of the eurozone....

The formal distinction between a treaty and a constitution is much less important than the question of who is authorized to interpret and amend it. The judges of the European Court of Justice interpret the Treaty by simple majority, while unanimity of the member-states would be required to...

This paper contains an international cross-section analysis of the share of central government expenditure in total government expenditure for a sample of about 50 countries and a subsample of 23 industrial countries in 1989–91. The expenditure shares, their changes and the unexplained...