A Fiscal Union for the Euro: Some Lessons from History

Abstract

started this paper in 2006 when he was a visiting scholar at DGECFIN in Brussels. The original research was funded by DGECFIN from a grant to him in 2006-2007. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peerreviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

The EU’s response to the global financial crisis and sovereign debt crisis

“…Economic governance is in the process of being substantially reformed as a result of the sovereign debt crisis, confirming the findings of Bordo et al (2011) that crisis often stimulates significant governance developments. The reform and amplification of prevention agreed in the months that followed the eruption of the 'euro crisis' in (2011), autumn forecasts the spring of 2010 is extensive and impressive.…”

The Eurocrisis: Muddling through, or on the Way to a More Perfect Euro Union?

“…Frequently, the reasons for the formation of currency unions and regional cooperation blend economics and politics. The euro has been the outcome of Europe's nineteenth and twentieth century history, rather than the 'Optimal Currency Areas' logic (Bordo and Jonug, 1999;Bordo et al, 2011, for detailed overviews of the history of unions).…”

Rethinking the Future of Europe

“…Regardless of a large credit position in the ECB Target2 interbank payment system (Bindseil and König, 2012) and that 43% of GDP (1.06 trillion Euros in 2011) is derived from exports (Beck, 2013), Germany has led the effort to stabilise the Euro and to maintain European integration at all costs (Paterson, 2011). Under the current circumstances, unifying fiscal and banking structures is suggested as necessary (Bordo, 2010), but at the same time the call for overarching politically democratic entities to fill the 'deficit' in Brussels remains .…”