This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of monetary policy, banking supervision and financial stability in the euro area. The author uses his professional experience in central banking to provide a thorough understanding of European economics and to explore how the monetary and financial system functions. The book takes into account the profound changes that resulted from crisis developments in recent years, such as the implementation of quantitative easing or the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). The author also invites readers to develop their thoughts on alternative policies to shape the monetary and financial system of the future. The textbook is tailor-made for intermediate courses in economics but will also appeal to those preparing a career in central banking or financial regulation.

This book studies the interactions between monetary and fiscal poUcies in the euro area. It carefully discusses the process of policy competition and the structure of policy cooperation. As to policy competition, the focus is on competition between the European central bank, the American central bank, the German government, and the French government. As to policy cooperation, the focus is on the same institutions. These are higher-dimensional issues. The pohcy targets are price stability and full employment. The policy makers follow co- turkey or gradualist strategies. The policy decisions are taken sequentially or simultaneously. Monetary and fiscal policies have spillover effects. Special features of this book are numerical simulations of policy competition and numerical solutions to policy cooperation. The present book is part of a larger research project on European Monetary Union, see the references at the back of the book. Some parts of this project were presented at the World Congress of the International Economic Association. Other parts were presented at the International Conference on Macroeconomic Analysis, at the International Institute of Public Finance, at the Macro Study Group of the German Economic Association, at the Annual Meeting of the Austrian Economic Association, at the Gottingen Workshop on International Economics, at the Halle Workshop on Monetary Economics, at the Research Seminar on Macroeconomics in Freiburg, and at the Passau Workshop on International Economics.

Written by experts in the field, this volume offers an in-depth and forward-looking legal, economic, and political science analysis of the rationale, main features, as well as the shortcomings of European economic, monetary, and financial integration. It is primarily intended for an academic audience and policymakers.

This paper presents the special quarterly supplement to the International Financial Statistics (IFS) 2006. The IMF is publishing the monetary statistics for those member countries that have commenced the reporting, on a regular basis, of monetary data that accord with the methodology in the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (MFSM), 2000. Exchange rates are expressed in time series of national currency units per SDR and national currency units per US dollar, or vice versa. An increase in the index reflects an appreciation. Because of certain data-related limitations, particularly where Fund estimates have been used, data users need to exercise considerable caution in interpreting movements in nominal and real effective exchange rates. Statistics on the accounts of financial corporations are given in sections 10 through 50 in the country tables. Data for the depository corporations and other financial corporations are consolidated into a Financial Corporations Survey.

This 2016 Article IV Consultation highlights that the recovery in euro area has strengthened recently. Lower oil prices, a broadly neutral fiscal stance, and accommodative monetary policy are supporting domestic demand. However, inflation and inflation expectations remain very low, below the European Central Bank’s medium-term price stability objective. Euro area GDP growth is expected to decelerate from 1.6 percent in 2016 to 1.4 percent in 2017, mainly owing to the negative impact of the U.K. referendum outcome. Growth five years ahead is expected to be about 1.5 percent, with headline inflation reaching only 1.7 percent.

OECD’s 2004 Economic Review of the Euro area puts forward a number of policy recommendations that seek to heighten the area’s resilience against adverse shocks. This edition’s special feature is titled Regions at Work.

The current economic and financial crisis erupted several years ago. Its effects impacted deeply upon society, in which legal rules and social patterns have developed to enable the establishment of civilisation, justice and peace. Over time it has become more and more obvious that policy, financial and economic actors have adopted austerity measures as a main tool to solve the ensuing problems, and that these measures have hit social policy standards sometimes dramatically. Recent analyses have dealt with several aspects of this issue. This book focuses on one important element: the impact on collective labour law. It seeks to add to the debate by presenting mainly legal arguments derived from different sources and backgrounds, examining the EU and 'Troika' measures, the economic and political background and the sometimes dramatic consequences of austerity measures on democracy, collective bargaining and the right to strike. Against the framework of EU law, the relevant ILO Conventions, (Revised) European Social Charter and European Convention on Human Rights provisions, the non-compliance of these measures is analysed and demonstrated. The book is also dedicated to procedural questions, and in particular, how legal approaches may be used to challenge austerity measures.

New Economic Constitutionalism in Europe focuses on the institutional mutation of constitutionalism following the major economic crisis in the Eurozone and globally. The main axis is that a new economic constitutionalism has arisen which trespasses on the conventional conceptual foundations and needs to be addressed with novel institutional vehicles. The author proposes an original and searching analysis of the significant constitutional evolutions that have taken place in member states in response to the global financial crisis. The book combines a sophisticated theoretical model of a new form of economic constitutionalism with detailed practical argumentation. This important new work provides a valuable addition to the understanding of this hugely important topic.

The current political, economic and financial crises facing the EU reveal a deeper cultural, indeed spiritual, malaise – a crisis in ‘the soul of Europe’. Many observers are concluding that the ‘soul of Europe’ cannot be restored to health without a new appreciation of the contribution of religion to its past and future, and especially that of its hugely important but widely neglected Christian heritage, which is alive today even amidst advancing European secularization. This book offers a fresh, constructive and critical understanding of Christian contributions to the origin and development of the EU from a variety of theological and national perspectives. It explains the Christian origins of the EU, documents the various ways in which it has been both affirmed and critiqued from diverse theological perspectives, offers expert, theologically-informed assessments of four illustrative policy areas of the EU (trade, finance, environment, science), and also reports on the place of religion in the EU, including how religious freedom is framed and how contemporary religious (including Muslim) actors relate to EU institutions and vice versa. The book fills a major gap in the current debate about the future of the European project and will be of interest to students and scholars of religion, politics and European studies.

The Executive Summary is also available in: Arabic , Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. The membership is facing a rapidly changing and uncertain world. The United States is poised to raise interest rates amid ongoing recovery, China’s expected slowdown as it rebalances growth is creating larger-than-anticipated spillovers, and commodity producers are facing the end of a long cycle of high commodity prices. These necessary transitions pose challenges, particularly for emerging and low-income developing countries, where prospects have dwindled the most. Policymakers are increasingly grappling with difficult policy trade-offs. Faced with limited room to maneuver and the need to adapt to new realities, what relative weight should be placed on supporting demand and current activity, on reducing financial risks as financial conditions tighten, and on implementing urgently needed structural reforms to revive future growth? Policies need to reflect country circumstances and coalesce into a new multilateralism. Mutually reinforcing policies are needed to support growth today, invest in resilience and safeguard financial stability, and implement the structural reforms needed for a sustainable and inclusive future. Policies should reflect member circumstances and also add up to a coherent whole—to ensure that demand is created not substituted, market resilience is enhanced not circumvented, and that structural reforms are enacted not delayed. Cooperation is vital in areas such as the global financial safety net, trade, climate change, international taxation, sustainable development goals (SDGs), and demographic transitions and migration. The Fund will support the membership at this juncture. The Fund has both the universal membership and mandate to address growth and economic stability issues at the national and global levels. To support the membership most effectively, the Fund will focus on three priorities that best reflect this new AIM: • Agility. Advice will focus on policies to support members cope with evolving transitions—respond to tighter and more volatile financial conditions and implement effective macro-structural reforms. The lending framework will deliver financial assistance quickly where needed. Delivery of technical assistance and training will be enhanced by greater use of online tools. • Integration. In the face of growing policy trade-offs, the Fund will support its members by better integrating policy advice across sectors, embracing evolving priorities, promoting integration of global, regional, and bilateral safety nets, and better leveraging synergies between surveillance and capacity building. • Member-Focused. With policy concerns evolving rapidly and advice becoming more dependent on country-specifics, the Fund will deepen its engagement with members, better deliver its knowledge, and ensure faster feedback to policymakers. The Fund continues to refine its core work—surveillance, lending, and capacity building—and to attain greater intellectual and cultural diversity to respond to this changing global environment and its corresponding policy challenges. To further improve services to the membership, Fund activities need to be fully supported by adequate financial, human, budgetary, and technological resources.