European Monetary Integration

EC monetary integration was reinforced in the 1980s when
macroeconomic         convergence and a dominant role of the German
Bundesbank created the basis   for relatively stable exchange
rates and increasing EC trade volumes.         Reduced capital
controls and rising capital mobility as well as                  German
unification caused shifts and shocks which undermined                        EMS
stability in a critical period - the transition to EMU in
accord      with the Maastricht Treaty which called for further
increasing monetary      integration. The analysis focuses on
these issues, the EMS crisis of            1992/93, the topic of
optimum currency areas and the problem of                  fiscal
policies/regional stabilization in Europe, the US and
Canada.      This book gives an assessment of the EMS
developments and shows how            financial market liberalization
as well as the EC 1992 project affect the   process of
economic and monetary union.