The Euro and the Crisis
Perspectives for the Eurozone as a Monetary and Budgetary Union

Editors: Nazaré da Costa Cabral, José Renato Gonçalves, Nuno Cunha Rodrigues



Presents an interdisciplinary overview that embraces economic, financial and legal perspectives on the European Union

Written by respected experts in several areas such as economics, finance, law and political science

Emphasizes the challenges confronting the European Union’s political system and discusses potential solutions

This book analyzes the effects of the recent crisis and evaluates potential solutions to the gridlock that is currently dominating the Eurozone and the European Union, concerning both the monetary policy and the budgetary and fiscal policy. The timely study highlights the main challenges that European political leaders will face in the months to come. Furthermore, its interdisciplinary approach embraces economic, financial and legal perspectives, so as to ensure the global coherence and comprehensiveness of its content. The contributors to this volume are prominent experts from the areas of Economics, Finance, Law, and Political Science, offering readers a multifaceted view of the topics discussed.

Table of contents (21 chapters)

Front Matter

Overview

The Eurozone as a (non) Optimum Currency Area
• Front Matter
• The Fundamental Flaws in the Euro Zone Framework
• EMU as a Sustainable Currency Area
• A Structural-Reform Proposal for a Two-Speed European Monetary Union
• Are Euro Area Economic Structures Changing?
• Differences in Human Capital and Openness to Trade as Barriers to Growth and Convergence in the EU
• Has the Euro Any Future Under Secular Stagnation?

A Monetary Union Relying on Fiscal Policy Coordination: Achievements, Shortcomings and Future Perspectives
• Front Matter
• European Monetary Union: Political Motivation
• The Great Recession of 2012–2014: The Monetary Union Challenged by National Egoisms
• The Fiscal Compact and the Excessive Deficit Procedure: Relics of Bygone Times?
• A Conceptual Framework for Reforms Versus Debt in the Context of a Fiscal Union Within the European Monetary Union
• Sovereign Debt Restructuring in a Monetary Union: The Case of the Euro Area Member States

New Perspectives for Macroeconomic Stabilizers in the European Union
• Front Matter
• The Crisis Management of the ECB
• The Unconventional Monetary Policy of the ECB and the International Economic and Financial Crisis: Effectiveness Versus Exhaustion
• The Eurozone’s Private and Governmental Shock Absorbers: Current Setup and Future Prospects
• The European Banking Union and the Economic and Monetary Union: The Puzzle Is Yet to Be Completed
• The (Future) European Unemployment Insurance and Its Role as an Automatic Stabiliser

A Budgetary Union as a Way-out of the EMU Crisis: Is It Possible?
• Front Matter
• Achieving Accountable Governance and Structural Reforms: Lessons from the Crisis in Europe
• The Financing of the European Union Budget
• Toward a Closer Union in Europe: Elusive Mirage or Reality Within Grasp?
• The Scope for a Budgetary Union in the European Monetary Union