Search Results
Journal Article
European Monetary Union faces tough decisions
Journal Article
The world's newest currency
Journal Article
The launch of the euro
The introduction on January 1, 1999, of the euro--the single currency adopted by eleven of the fifteen countries of the European Union--marked the beginning of the final stage of Economic and Monetary Union and the start of a new era in Europe. The creation of a single currency and a single monetary policy has provided both extraordinary challenges and exceptional opportunities within Europe. This article reviews the organization, objectives, and targets of the euro area's new central bank and discusses some of the early challenges it has faced in setting and implementing monetary policy with ...
Journal Article
A Yankee recipe for a Eurofed omelet
The second article, reprinted from the Wall Street Journal/Europe, suggests a compromise between a centralized and decentralized structure for the union.
Journal Article
The EMU: forerunners and durability
The first article examines the history and theory of monetary unions to ask what factors will foster a stable European Monetary Union. It concludes that a decentralized arrangement of national central banks may undermine the EMUs durability.
Journal Article
The European system of central banks
On January 1, 1999, the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) began conducting monetary policy for eleven of the fifteen nations of the European Union, formally creating an economic and monetary union. The ESCB is governed by the decision-making bodies of the European Central Bank (ECB) and manages Europe's new currency, the euro. The structure of the ESCB is in many ways similar to that of the Federal Reserve System, with the ECB playing a role similar to that of the Board of Governors and the various national central banks occupying positions not unlike those of the regional Reserve ...
Working Paper
Is the ECU an optimal currency basket?
Recently the role of the ECU has increased and there has been concern whether it is sustainable. The first part of this paper examines the composition of the ECU and investigates the impact of changes in this composition on the value of the ECU. The results show that when there is little exchange rate variability among the currencies that comprise the ECU or when the changes in composition are small the value of the ECU remains stable. The second part of this paper constructs an alternative, optimal basket of currencies for Germany and compares this basket to the ECU. The path of the optimal ...
Journal Article
Decision time for European Monetary Union
If the plans of European governments for economic and monetary union by the end of the decade are realized, a new common currency called the euro will be in use in at least a few western European countries within five years. Even earlier, starting in 1999, a new European Central Bank is slated to take control of monetary policy in the initial member countries. ; This article examines the economic and political factors that will determine whether monetary union proceeds on schedule and, if so, which countries are likely to be initial members. There is little chance that most of the countries ...