The European Monetary Union In A Public Choice Perspective

The future of European Monetary Union (EMU) stands as one of the most important economic issues of the era. The author argues that in the event of macroeconomic shocks, rather than acting as a cohesive force, EMU could give rise to disunity. As EMU is not an optimal currency area, asymmetric shocks affecting each country differently could be critical to its future. The success of EMU depends upon the ability of institutions in the EU to satisfy the monetary and fiscal policy demands of sufficient numbers of national constituents, interest groups, and multinational corporations. This book employs principles from public choice to analyze the EU institutions that participate in the monetary policy making process of EMU and assesses whether they have the mechanisms to cope with asymmetric macroeconomic shocks. In particular, it examines the European Council, Council of Ministers, European Commission, European Parliament and the European Central Bank. This book provides an invaluable critique of the EMU plan and will be of interest to scholars of European economics, macroeconomics and public choice.

The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has prompted much discussion. This book stands back and considers the relevant theory or what lessons might be drawn from other unions that have been formed as well as looking at EMU directly.

This book makes a valuable, analytical contribution to recent debates on the ongoing institutional changes occurring within the European Union. It provides a comprehensive and diverse insight into a variety of areas, including in-depth studies of fiscal, monetary and voting issues, to help elucidate the current period of transitional change. The authors argue that a fiscal constitution is essential to help solve the deficits and debts that member countries face due to welfare state financing. Moreover, they believe that the successful implementation of a fiscal constitution is the key to a more coherent institutional setting for Europe as a whole. Although monetary institutions within the EU have already secured a degree of constitutional solution in the form of the euro, they warn that its stabilising power should not be overestimated: the European Central Bank has yet to experience financial crises like those faced by the Federal Reserve Bank. The authors move on to propose a new parliamentary design for Europe and assess the advantages for the elite of a small country to join the EU, compared to the population at large. This volume comprehensively explores the rapidly changing institutional configuration of the EU, employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It will be required reading for scholars of public choice, and those with an interest in political economy and EU integration. It is also an excellent sourcebook on European institutions and would provide useful complementary reading in a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

The study of European integration produced much scholarly debate in the 1950s and '60s. The following two decades saw few works on European integration that included more elaborate discussions of theory and methodology; most studies in that period were fairly descriptive. In recent years there has been renewed theoretical interest in European integration. This book, however, is one of the first to discuss and apply various political-economy approaches explicitly to integration, including classical integration theory and modern public choice theories. Areas covered include common policies and decision making, as well as the external relations of the EU. The influence of the European Parliament, the concept of subsidiarity, trade policy, Economic and Monetary Union, reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, relations with EFTA and Eastern European countries, as well as enlargement, are all discussed. "Audience: " Of interest to both scholars and policy makers concerned with these issues.

"This book brings together the most established experts in the area to provide a comprehensive interdisciplinary perspective on the issues expected to face EMU over the next few decades, and to propose solutions to the challenges which may arise. As well as offering new and insightful contributions to the integration debate, the book is also policy-oriented, and aims to assess the future impact of EMU on various EU policy areas, such as trade policy and fiscal policy, and also its impact on political union and labour markets. With a wealth of fresh and innovative interdisciplinary perspectives on the future of EMU and on the EU integration process as a whole, this fascinating book is an essential companion for all wishing to gain a greater understanding of the challenges facing European integration in the decades to come, and the part which EMU will play in the future of Europe."--BOOK JACKET.

After decades of economic integration and EU enlargement, the economic geography of Europe has shifted, with new peripheries emerging and the core showing signs of fragmentation. This book examines the paths of the core and peripheral countries, with a focus on their diverse productive capabilities and their interdependence. Crisis in the European Monetary Union: A Core-Periphery Perspective provides a new framework for analysing the economic crisis that has shaken the Eurozone countries. Its analysis goes beyond the short-term, to study the medium and long-term relations between ‘core’ countries (particularly Germany) and Southern European ‘peripheral’ countries. The authors argue that long-term sustainability means assigning the state a key role in guiding investment, which in turn implies industrial policies geared towards diversifying, innovating and strengthening the economic structures of peripheral countries to help them thrive. Offering a fresh angle on the European crisis, this volume will appeal to students, academics and policymakers interested in the past, present and future construction of Europe.

The Encyclopedia provides a detailed and comprehensive account of the subject known as public choice. However, the title would not convey suf- ciently the breadth of the Encyclopedia’s contents which can be summarized better as the fruitful interchange of economics, political science and moral philosophy on the basis of an image of man as a purposive and responsible actor who pursues his own objectives as efficiently as possible. This fruitful interchange between the fields outlined above existed during the late eighteenth century during the brief period of the Scottish Enlightenment when such great scholars as David Hume, Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith contributed to all these fields, and more. However, as intell- tual specialization gradually replaced broad-based scholarship from the m- nineteenth century onwards, it became increasingly rare to find a scholar making major contributions to more than one. Once Alfred Marshall defined economics in neoclassical terms, as a n- row positive discipline, the link between economics, political science and moral philosophy was all but severed and economists redefined their role into that of ‘the humble dentist’ providing technical economic information as inputs to improve the performance of impartial, benevolent and omniscient governments in their attempts to promote the public interest. This indeed was the dominant view within an economics profession that had become besotted by the economics of John Maynard Keynes and Paul Samuelson immediately following the end of the Second World War.