'I can fully recommend this book to those interested in the transmission process of monetary policy.' - Harry Garretsen, De Economist Due to financial market imperfections it is imperative to analyse the relationship between financial structure and the monetary policy transmission process in Europe to effectively design and implement European monetary policy. Focusing on the years 1980-1995 and providing empirical evidence for six European countries, namely Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands, the author discusses whether cross-country variations in financial structure have a systematic relationship with inter-country differences in the monetary transmission process. The analysis of this is invaluable as differences in financial structures across EMU countries may hamper the implementation of a common European monetary policy in the future. The conclusion is that some elements of the financial structure are clearly relevant and applicable for European monetary policy and the monetary transmission process in particular.

Taking data from 1980 to 1995 and empirical evidence from six European countries an economist at De Nederlandsche Bank, investigates whether cross-country variations in financial structure have a systematic relationship with inter-country differences in the monetary transmission process. The countries are Germany, France, Italy, Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The conclusion is that some elements of the financial structure are clearly relevant and applicable for European monetary policy and the monetary transmission process in particular. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The first twenty years of the European Central Bank offer a unique insight into how a central bank can navigate macroeconomic insecurity and crisis. This volume examines the structures and decision-making processes behind the complex measures taken by the ECB to tackle some of the toughest economic challenges in the history of modern Europe.

This 2003 book offers the most systematic analysis available of the impact of European Central Bank monetary policy on the national economies of the Eurozone. Analysing macro and micro-economic evidence, with chapters by central bank economists, including a discussion chapter by eminent macroeconomists, it is an essential contribution to research on the subject.

Europe’s financial crisis cannot be blamed on the Euro, Harold James contends in this probing exploration of the whys, whens, whos, and what-ifs of European monetary union. The current crisis goes deeper, to a series of problems that were debated but not resolved at the time of the Euro’s invention. Since the 1960s, Europeans had been looking for a way to address two conundrums simultaneously: the dollar’s privileged position in the international monetary system, and Germany’s persistent current account surpluses in Europe. The Euro was created under a politically independent central bank to meet the primary goal of price stability. But while the monetary side of union was clearly conceived, other prerequisites of stability were beyond the reach of technocratic central bankers. Issues such as fiscal rules and Europe-wide banking supervision and regulation were thoroughly discussed during planning in the late 1980s and 1990s, but remained in the hands of member states. That omission proved to be a cause of crisis decades later. Here is an account that helps readers understand the European monetary crisis in depth, by tracing behind-the-scenes negotiations using an array of sources unavailable until now, notably from the European Community’s Committee of Central Bank Governors and the Delors Committee of 1988–89, which set out the plan for how Europe could reach its goal of monetary union. As this foundational study makes clear, it was the constant friction between politicians and technocrats that shaped the Euro. And, Euro or no Euro, this clash will continue into the future.

This work focuses on different aspects of the monetary transmission process, looking at both large and small economies in the EMU. The results offer useful evaluation tools with regard to monetary policy transmission in a European perspective.

The euro and the ESCB have started in January 1999 and there is naturally a wide-ranging interest in academia and among policymakers in OECD coun tries, how successful European Monetary Union will and can be. EMU has started with 11 countries and experienced a rapid depreciation of the cur rency. With so many EU countries joining for a historical monetary union in a period of economic globalization, international financial market changes and ongoing EU enlargement the problem of monetary policy efficiency becomes crucial; especially as so many countries in the EU still have high unemploy ment rates and the euro has just started at the beginning of a cyclical upswing in the euro zone. Monetary policy is also quite crucial, because the Maastricht convergence criteria severely restrict the scope of national fiscal policy. With a very limited stock of valuable European monetary experience which could be usefully exploited by the ECB and the ESCB respectively, one naturally will appreciate advanced economic modeling of the main issues. This book takes an analytical look at the problem of asymmetric monetary transmission in Euroland. Facing the ECB's monetary policy, individual mem ber countries are likely to experience different policy effects. Countries differ in their financial structure -a well-known argument in the literature -but also in the characteristics of goods and labor markets. The latter fields have been somewhat neglected in the literature but receive broad analytical attention here.