The political economy of European monetary unification, 2nd ed.

Book abstract:

This book is the outgrowth of a research group on the Political Economy of European Integration convened jointly by the Institute for European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. The group met, typically twice a year, from 1991 until 1999. The first edition of this book was published in 1994, when the future of monetary unification in Europe was very much in doubt. With economic and monetary union in place, it is appropriate to bring the scholarship in the volume up to date. To this effect, four of the original chapters have been revised substantially to reflect new conditions, and the editors have completely rewritten their introductory essay. Three of the original chapters have been replaced with new chapters by Matthew Gabel, Charles Engel and Paul De Grauwe et alia and deal with public support for EMU, local currency pricing and whether Europe is now better off. The result is a volume that is almost entirely different from the first edition in content, although its purpose - to bring on the latest in scholarship in economics and political science to bear on the topic - remains the same.

Barry Eichengreen is John L. Simpson Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Jeffry A. Frieden is Professor of Government at Harvard University.

The chapters are: The political economy of European Monetary Unification: an analytical introduction; Making commitments: France and Italy in the European Monetary system, 1979-1985; Divided opinion, common currency: the political economy of public support for EMU; A retrial in the case against the EMU: local-currency pricing and the choice of exchange rate regime; The politics of Maastricht; International and domestic institutions in the EMU process and beyond; From EMS to EMU: are we better off?; Beyond EMU: the problem of sustainability.

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