Wage growth has remained under control after the formation of the European Monetary Union (EMU). The literature has advanced numerous explanations to account for this phenomenon. But, arguments about the need to preserve competitiveness in an enlarged market remain too generic. At the same time,...

[From the Introduction]. What are the major issues involved in our topic? The questions are: first, given that there is a "Europe 1992", the creation of a Single European market (SEM) in the real sector, what, if any, are, or must be, the implications for the monetary sector. Second, whether and...

[From the Introduction]. With only two more years to run on the European Community's (EC) 1992 single market program, European leaders have been seeking for the last several years to develop and specify a range of extensive proposals to enhance the benefits of an integrated market. One principal...

This paper analyzes the 1992 crisis in the EMS and raises the question whether EC monetary integration along the lines envisaged by the Maastricht Treaty is an efficient and viable way of monetary union. The challenge of the single market project for monetary integration is discussed and it is...

This paper takes a preliminary step toward formulating a theory of German leadership within European monetary politics. Its purpose is to examine the constraints to monetary cooperation in Europe. An analysis of the constraints provides a prerequisite for understanding the particular role of...

This paper examines why policy-makers (experts in central banks, ministries of finance, employers' organizations and trade unions) of Britain, France, and Germany have accepted an 'asymmetrical' Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) which incorporates a developed monetary component, yet a relatively...

At the start of the Third Stage of EMU, it was by no means clear whether the ECB would succeed in setting up an efficient framework for distributing liquidity throughout the euro-zone. Now in retrospect, however, the ECB appears to have been quite successful. In this paper, we will look at the...

Ahead of the European Council meeting on 23 October, the author outlines how EU Heads of States should focus on restoring confidence in euro-area policymakers’ ability and determination to put the euro area on a sound footing and restore market credibility. Stress in the interbank market has...

[From the Introduction]. The main purpose of this paper is to consider whether fiscal policy according to EMU’s constraints is sustainable particularly in the context of high unemployment and low growth. In this respect, this paper is mainly based on previous studies which developed possible...

IN DECEMBER 2004, the new Barroso Commission brought the saga of the French and German infringements of the Stability and Growth Pact to a close by lifting the "excessive deficit" procedure launched in 2003. That same month, the Commission launched infringement proceedings against Greece that...