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...

Approaching the issue of mounting global imbalances from the perspective of the Bretton Woods II hypothesis,ʺ this paper argues that the popular preoccupation with China’s supposed export-led development strategy is misplaced. It also suggests, similar to Japan’s depression, subdued growth...

This Occasional Paper examines how and why the institutional framework governing EMU has evolved since the creation of the euro. Building on theories of institutionalism, the paper in particular investigates to what extent functional spillovers from the single currency into other policy domains,...

This paper analyses and compares the roles which Belgium and Italy have played in the process of European monetary integration. It discusses Belgian and Italian attitudes towards European integration and EMU, exchange rate policies, key concepts of the Belgian and Italian EMU strategies and the...

Most of the European countries that are members of the euro area continue to face a crisis that is seriously undermining their economic and social development. The aim of this paper is to show that:(1) the sovereign debt crisis is essentially due to a monetary pathology related to the mechanism...

Since its establishment in 1998, the European Central Bank (ECB) has come of age. During this period, its legal framework has been put to the test sufficiently to allow for a proper assessment of the working of this system in practice. This article focuses on the relationship between the ECB and...