The creation of an economic and monetary union (EMU) in Europe is among the most important_and controversial_developments of the 1990s. This clear and balanced book brings together economists and political scientists to explain why the creation of a European monetary union is so contentious; how the debate has affected the political determination to construct a monetary union; and how it will influence the functioning of EMU into the next century. Focusing on how economics and politics interact both in the prelude to unification and in its aftermath, the authors provide an innovative analysis of a spectrum of related issues: how EMU relates to Europe's unemployment crisis, how it will affect the process of economic adjustment, what convergence means for the performance of the member states separately, and how the member states will decide both whether to participate themselves and whom else to admit to the monetary club.

This title was first published in 2002: Concentrating on the myriad political aspects of European Monetary Union (EMU), this volume places the EMU and the European Union (EU) in a global context. It should be useful for scholars and students of European studies, economics, modern history and international relations. Libraries and embassies should also find it a valuable reference tool.

The aim of this book is to explore the preconditions of a European political economy. The establishment of the monetary union and the European Central Bank constitutes a major step towards greater economic, social and political integration between the Member States of the European Union, and is therefore a momentous event in European history. What do the historically given preconditions of a European political economy mean in practice and theory in terms of future possibilities? With a historical perspective on European monetary integration, from the strains in the dollar-based Bretton Woods order in the 1960s and earlier, the Werner Plan around 1970, and the internal market in the 1980s to the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, future prospects of EMU are discussed. The book is based on the reflections of a working group at the European University Institute in Florence in operation from 1999 to 2001. The fifteen chapters are organised in clusters on the historical and conceptual setting, on financial institutions and economic theory, on social practices and legal framework, and on future prospects. Historians, philosophers, economists, political scientists and sociologists contribute to this interdisciplinary attempt to come to terms with both the preconditions and the prospects of EMU. Contents: Lars Magnusson/Bo Strath: From the Werner Plan to the EMU: In Search of a European Political Economy. Historical Perspectives and Future Prospects--Hubert Zimmermann: The Fall of Bretton Woods and the Emergence of the Werner Plan--Amy Verdun: The Political Economy of the Werner and Delors Reports: Continuity amidst Change or Change amidst Continuity?--David Purdy: Economic Theory and Policy from theKeynesian Revolution to the Third Way--J. Peter Burgess/Bo Strath: Money and Political Economy: From the Werner Plan to the Delors Report and Beyond--Lars Magnusson/Jan Ottosson: The Political Transaction Costs of the Convergence Criteria--The EMU Compromise for the Delors Committee to Maastricht--Sheila C. Dow: The ECB, Banking, Monetary Policy and Unemployment--Roger Hammersland: - We are arrogant because we are good--A Critical Appraisal of Central Banking versus Fiscal Policy in Accomplishing the Community Wide Convergence of the 1980s and 1990s--Ole Bjorn Roste: Labour Markets and the EMU: The Cases of Norway and Sweden--Barbara MacLennan: Finance, Gender and Structural Change in the European Union--Ulrike Liebert: Constructing EMU: Euro-Scepticism and the Emerging European Public Space--Diamond Ashiagbor: EMU and the Shift from a - Social Policy Agenda to an - Employment Policy Agenda in European Labour Law--Ton Notermans: The Werner Plan as a Blueprint for EMU?--Jos de Beus: Are Third Way Social Democrats Friends or Enemies of European Integration? A Tocquevillian Tale on the Politics of Administration--David Purdy: Welfare Reform, Social Citizenship and European Integration--Robert Salais: Filling the Gap between Macroeconomic Policy and Situated Approaches to Employment. A Hidden Agenda for Europe?--Lars Magnusson/Bo Strath: Postscript."

This book places the whole issue of monetary union in its wider political economic context. The authors discuss: * the effect of EMU on fiscal and monetary policies * Central bank independence * the impact of EMU on unemployment * ERM II * international perspectives. Drawing on their experience in the European financial markets, the authors use a non-technical approach to discuss these issues - both in a general european sense and more specifically, Germany, the UK and Italy.

"This title was first published in 2002: Concentrating on the myriad political aspects of European Monetary Union (EMU), this volume places the EMU and the European Union (EU) in a global context. It should be useful for scholars and students of European studies, economics, modern history and international relations. Libraries and embassies should also find it a valuable reference tool."--Provided by publisher.

Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2009. Before its birth many observers were concerned about its viability. This volume examines a number of noteworthy concerns that were heard a decade ago and it assesses what has become of them. The contributors to this volume examine various topics. Has EMU been a failure or success? Does EMU require more political integration? What type of deeper integration in the financial market has occurred because of EMU? Does the public like EMU? Does EMU cause a decline of the welfare state, reduce the role of labour unions and are adjustments now made mainly through the labour market? Do countries in EMU become more similar over time? Is EMU sustainable in the long-run? Will EMU survive the global financial crisis? The contributors to this book are leading Political Scientists in the field, and draw on a wealth of research and experience. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

This book examines the crisis of EMU through the lenses of comparative political economy. It retraces the development of wage-setting systems in the core and peripheral EMU member states, and how these contributed to the increasing divergence between creditor and debtor states in the late 2000s. Starting with the construction of the Deutschmark bloc, through the Maastricht process of the 1990s, and into the first decade of EMU, this book analyzes how labour unions and wage determination systems adjusted in response to monetary integration and, in turn, influenced the shape that monetary union would eventually take. Before the introduction of the Euro, labour unions were disciplined by central banks and governments, after social conflict in the north of the continent and with the use of social pacts in the others. Since controlling inflation had become the main goal of macro-economic policy, national central banks acted as a backstop to keep militant unions and profligate governments under control. Public sector wages thus were subordinated to manufacturing wages, a set-up policed by export sector unions, aided by the central bank. With the introduction of the single currency, the European Central Bank replaced the national central banks and, as a result, their capacity to control labour unions disappeared. The strong links between wages in the public sector unions and wages in the manufacturing export sector weakened dramatically in many countries, wage inflation re-emerged, and the stage was set for the current account divergences at the basis of the crisis of EMU.