European integration in crisis

Despite the current growth speed up and increasing employment within the EU, one can still say that European integration is in crisis: Economic performance of the EU and, in particular, the Euro area has been lagging behind the USA, not to mention other regions of the world. At the same time economic divergence between the member countries of the EMU is posing serious problems. With EU-enlargement and the inclusion of the Middle and Eastern European countries, the degree of nominal and real differences has considerably increased. It is not at all clear whether and how the EU will be able to cope with these differences and the already existing tendencies of divergence among the ‘old’ member states. The chapters in this book cover theoretical, empirical and policical aspects of European integration. Among other topics, this book contains a critical analysis of optimum currency area theory and it is concerned with the theoretical foundations and empirical consequences of the ‘Maastricht Regime’. Monetary, fiscal and wages policies and their coordination within a monetary union are analysed. Some country studies complete the picture. Contents Jürgen Kromphardt: Revival or survival of macroeconomic policy analysis in Germany? • Charles Goodhart: Currency unions: some lessons from the Euro-zone • Jan Priewe: Optimal currency area – a Keynesian interpretation • Jan Priewe, Wolfgang Scheremet: Economic divergence in the Euro area and macroeconomic policy options • Claudio Sardoni, Randall Wray: Fixed and flexible exchange rates and currency sovereignty • Stefano Solari, Claus Thomasberger: Reform und continuity in the Italian economy: EMU at risk? • Jesus Ferreiro, Carmen Gomez, Felipe Serrano: What room for expansionary economic policies in the EMU? The case of Spain • Hansjörg Herr, Milka Kazandziska: Wages and Regional Coherence in the European Monetary Union • Angel Asensio: Co-ordinating macroeconomic policies within a heterogeneous monetary union • Felix Geiger, Peter Spahn: One size fits none? Common monetary policy and inflation differentials in EMU • Jörg Bibow: The ECB – How much of a success story, really? • Dany Lang: Can the European construction really continue relying on the NAIRU? • Philip Arestis, Malcolm Sawyer: Perspectives on Economic Policy in the Economic and Monetary Union