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This paper presents a selective survey of the recent literature on labour market institutions and offers new empirical EU-based evidence on the impact of labour market reforms on employment and labour market adjustment. While the literature traditionally treats labour market institutions as exogenous, attention shifted recently towards understanding the underlying causes of specific institutional arrangements. As a consequence, the literature highlights the great importance of an efficient policy design exploiting these interactions wisely and identifies general principles for achieving an efficient policy design at both macro and micro levels. While empirical evidence does no show a major change in terms of intensity of labour market reform after the setting of the Economic and Monetary Union and the creation of the euro, the reforms aiming at strengthening the labour market attachment of vulnerable groups tend to have been successful both in raising their employment and increasing labour market adjustment. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The 2008 financial crisis is arguably the most dramatic outcome of globalization. International economic integration, if unregulated, can bring about huge inequalities and the destruction of the environment. This thought-provoking book illustrates why the 'old' international order is unable to provide crucial global public goods such as monetary and financial stability in the fight against mass poverty and climate change. -- The expert authors provide an in-depth analysis of the causes of the financial crisis and the political economy measures required to build a safer and more stable international order. They show how the financial crisis is deeply rooted in the flaws of the dollar standard and explain why the dollar and globalization should be considered together to understand the present challenges. By way of conclusion, the authors propose the creation of a 'World Eco-Monetary Union' with the power to regulate the global economy and to promote sustainable development. -- The new macroeconomic approach presented contributes to the development of a more comprehensive supranational political economy. As such, this challenging book will prove a stimulating read for academics, researchers and students with an interest in economics, heterodox economics, and international economics.

The present paper first takes a step backwards with an attempt to situate the adoption of this Treaty in discussion of the SGP and the "Maastricht criteria" (the criteria for EMU membership fixed in the Maastricht Treaty) in a longer perspective of the sharing of competences for macroeconomic policy making within the EU from the initial Treaty to the Maastricht Treaty and the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). It then presents the main features of the Fiscal Treaty and its relation to the SGP and draws some conclusions as regards the importance and relevance of this new step in the process of economic policy coordination. It concludes that the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union does not seem to offer a definitive solution to the problem of finding the appropriate budgetary-monetary policy mix in the EMU already well identified in the Delors report in 1989 and regularly emphasised ever since and now seriously aggravated due to the Crisis. Furthermore, the implementation of this Treaty may under certain circumstances contribute to an increase in the uncertainties as regards the distribution of the competences between the European Parliament and national parliaments and between the former and the Commission and the Council.

This paper examines the extent to which economic crises facilitate the development of more effective regional institutions and whether such institutions can shield regions from crises. It compares six regional economic crises over the last four decades and the institution building—or decay—that followed. The analysis concludes that five conditions are especially important in generating a constructive regional response: (i) a significant degree of regional economic interdependence; (ii) an independent secretariat or intergovernmental body charged with cooperation; (iii) webs of interlocking economic agreements; and, as elements of the multilateral context, (iv) conflict with the relevant international organization (such as the International Monetary Fund [IMF]); and (v) the support of the United States. The paper then reviews three episodes of crises in Europe, concluding that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has deflected balance of payments and currency crises but not crises of other types, such as sovereign debt crises. Asian regionalism would be well served by heads of government taking the lead and delegating tasks to intergovernmental networks and secretariats, central banks and finance ministries retaining substantial collective autonomy in their fields of responsibility, and the use of concentric circles to accommodate countries with different levels of commitment to regionalism.

Books reviewed:Bhagwati, Jagdish. The Winds of the Hundred DaysCostanza, Robert, John Cumberland, Herman Daly, Robert Goodland und Richard Norgaard. Einführung in die Ökologische ÖkonomikFogel, Robert William. The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of EgalitarianismFrey, Bruno S. Inspiring EconomicsFrey, Bruno S. und Margit Osterloh (Hrsg.) Managing MotivationGandolfo, Giancarlo. International Finance and Open‐Economy MacroeconomicsGerschlager, Caroline und Ina Paul‐Horn (Hrsg.) Gestaltung des GeldesGibson, Heather D. (ed.) Economic Transformation, Democratization and the Integration into the European UnionHenneberger, Fred, Stefan Graf und Matthias Vocke. Globalisierung und ArbeitsmarktHoffmann, Lutz and Felicitas Moellers (eds.) Ukraine on the Road to EuropeHowarth, David, J. The French Road to European Monetary UnionHunya, Gabor (ed.) Integration Through Foreign Direct InvestmentKiesewetter, Hubert. Region und Industrie in Europa 1815–1995Kleinert, Jörn und Henning Klodt. Megafusionen — Trends, Ursachen und ImplikationenKolodko, Grzegorz W. Post‐Communist Transition: The Thorny RoadNooteboom, Bart. Learning and Innovation in Organizations and EconomiesPsalidopoulos, Michalis (ed.) The Canon in the History of EconomicsRiphan, Regina T., Dennis J. Snower and Klaus F. Zimmermann (eds.) Employment Policy in TransitionRochon, Louis‐Philippe and Matias Vernengo (eds.) Credit, Interest Rates and the Open EconomySacconi, Lorenzo. The Social Contract of the FirmSen, Amartya. Ökonomie für den MenschenSieberg, Katri K. Criminal DilemmasVives, Xavier. Oligopoly PricingWelfens, Paul J. J. European Monetary Union and Exchange Rate Dynamics

This article explores the economic policies developed by the Spanish socialist government from 1982 to 1996, particularly with an eye on the impact the process of European integration had on them. The introduction of stable macroeconomic policies, in the form of high interest rates, is traced to the interaction of three factors. First, an increasingly internationalized economy, reinforced by the European single market & monetary union projects, forced the Spanish government to fight against inflation & deprived it of the possibility of using currency depreciations. Secondly, a radical & fragmented union movement made it impossible for the Gonzalez cabinet to rely on stable corporatist pacts to achieve wage moderation. Finally, intense pressure to build a welfare state & miscalculations about the direction of the economic cycle led to loose fiscal policies that had to be compensated with tight money measures. To compensate for its incapacity to establish a social democratic corporatist regime, the PSOE engaged in an active industrial policy geared to a restructuring of the publicly owned enterprises, expanded the Spanish public stock of human & physical capital, & increased social spending to compensate the unemployed & the losers of the transformation of the Spanish economy. 1 Table, 3 Figures, 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

International audience ; This introductory essay briefly summarizes the 11 empirical studies of price setting and price adjustment that are included in this special issue. The studies, which use data from several European countries, were conducted as part of the European Central Bank's Inflation Persistence Network.

Europe has responded to the crisis with strengthened budgetary and macroeconomic surveillance, the creation of the European Stability Mechanism, liquidity provisioning by resilient economies and the European Central Bank and a process towards a banking union. However, a monetary union requires some form of budget for fiscal stabilisation in case of shocks, and as a backstop to the banking union. This paper compares four quantitatively different schemes of fiscal stabilisation and proposes a new scheme based on GDP-indexed bonds. The options considered are: (i) A federal budget with unemployment and corporate taxes shifted to euro-area level; (ii) a support scheme based on deviations from potential output;(iii) an insurance scheme via which governments would issue bonds indexed to GDP, and (iv) a scheme in which access to jointly guaranteed borrowing is combined with gradual withdrawal of fiscal sovereignty. Our comparison is based on strong assumptions. We carry out a preliminary, limited simulation of how the debt-to-GDP ratio would have developed between 2008-14 under the four schemes for Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and an 'average' country.The schemes have varying implications in each case for debt sustainability.

Summary
The financial and guarantee aids within the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism suspend the Stability and Growth Pact as the basis of the European Economic and Monetary Union. The actual 'suspension' from the 'no bail-out' restriction (Art. 125 TFEU) and the prohibition of funding national debts (Art. 123 TFEU) transfers risks and financial burdens from deeply indebted states to solvent EU member states. This is the beginning of an unauthorized 'transfer union'.
This analysis does not display any evidence of market failure with respect to a potential domino effect for other EU member states. In addition, a destabilizing speculation cannot be identified. The case 'Greece' is rather a special case which has become a common model for other member states, caused by the Council of the European Union and the aid packages. Speculations build a part of the observable market reactions apart from pure hedging, but they simply indicate political system errors.
The interventions by the European Central Bank do not lead to functioning markets. These interventions rather lead to yield structures that are inadequate in terms of risks and scarcity. Therefore they will cause a misallocation of financial resources with high economic costs.

Abstract.  Support for a common currency and the European Monetary Union signifies that European citizens are willing to transfer power from the nation‐state to the European Union (EU). Given the symbolic importance of national currencies, this willingness to give up sovereignty over currency has important implications for the further integration and development of the European Union. Drawing on a multi‐level governance perspective and past research into public support for European integration, we examine how economic factors such as the value of the national currency and individual factors such as diffuse support for the EU and education condition support for the euro. We hypothesize that citizens will be less likely to support a common currency when they lack diffuse support for the EU, when their own national currency is strong or when their country's domestic agenda is squeezed by austerity measures. Using pooled Euro Barometer data from 1992 to 2000, we find support for these hypotheses indicating that citizens take into account domestic economic performance when evaluating EU institutions, but we also find that individual attitudes toward the EU play a role in support for the euro.

The Treaty of Lisbon is often referred to as "the treaty of the parliaments". But the Economic and Monetary Union reforms implemented in response to the financial and sovereign debt crises have further diminished the role of the European and national parliaments in the legislative process. In return, however, the parliaments have been given greater powers in the area of accountability. Strengthening the democratic principle within EMU requires a greater degree of involvement by the parliaments. This means avoiding the use of intergovernmental agreements, organising a "euro area. committee within the European Parliament and holding an annual socio-economic convention to establish the broad guidelines of EMU policies. ; Le Traité de Lisbonne se présente comme « le traité des parlements ». Cependant, pour répondre à la crise financière et à la crise des dettes souveraines, les réformes de l'Union économique et monétaire accentuent le phénomène de relégation du Parlement européen et des parlements nationaux dans le processus décisionnel. En contrepartie, les parlements obtiennent des pouvoirs renforcés en matière de reddition des comptes. Le renforcement du principe démocratique dans l'UEM exige une implication accrue des parlements. Cela suppose notamment d'éviter le recours aux accords intergouvernementaux, d'organiser un comité zone euro au sein du Parlement européen et de tenir une Convention socio-économique tous les ans pour définir les grandes orientations des politiques de l'UEM.

Structural policies in the euro area are of great interest for the Eurosystem, particularly as they can support the smooth functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the effectiveness of monetary policy. This paper adopts a broad definition of structural policies, analysing not only the benefits of efficient labour, product and financial market regulations, but also emphasising the importance of good governance and efficient institutions that ensure high quality and impartial public services, the rule of law and the control of rent-seeking. The paper concludes that there are many opportunities for enhanced structural policies in EU and euro area countries which can yield substantial gains by boosting long-term income and employment growth and supporting social fairness, also via better and more equal opportunities. It provides empirical and model-based analyses on the impacts and the interactions of structural policies, highlighting synergies between growth and inclusiveness, while acknowledging that structural policy changes need to be country-specific to reflect national conditions and social preferences. Well-designed structural policies would also strengthen economic resilience and convergence of Member States, bringing the euro area closer to the requirements of an optimal currency area and improving the transmission of monetary policy. The paper also discusses the political economy causes of the sluggish implementation of socially beneficial structural policies and assesses ways to deal with possible short-term costs of reforms.

Structural policies in the euro area are of great interest for the Eurosystem, particularly as they can support the smooth functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the effectiveness of monetary policy. This paper adopts a broad definition of structural policies, analysing not only the benefits of efficient labour, product and financial market regulations, but also emphasising the importance of good governance and efficient institutions that ensure high quality and impartial public services, the rule of law and the control of rent-seeking. The paper concludes that there are many opportunities for enhanced structural policies in EU and euro area countries which can yield substantial gains by boosting long-term income and employment growth and supporting social fairness, also via better and more equal opportunities. It provides empirical and model-based analyses on the impacts and the interactions of structural policies, highlighting synergies between growth and inclusiveness, while acknowledging that structural policy changes need to be country-specific to reflect national conditions and social preferences. Well-designed structural policies would also strengthen economic resilience and convergence of Member States, bringing the euro area closer to the requirements of an optimal currency area and improving the transmission of monetary policy. The paper also discusses the political economy causes of the sluggish implementation of socially beneficial structural policies and assesses ways to deal with possible short-term costs of reforms.