This volume, from the Centre for Economic Policy Research, examines the discussion surrounding both actual and possible future expansion of the European Union (EU). The contributors address the key issues in the debate, including the implications of expansion for the global trading system, enlargement-related pressures to reform EU decision making, and the economic consequences of membership for new entrants. Using the latest theoretical techniques to report new results and insights, this book not only sheds light on the consequences of Austria, Finland and Sweden joining the EU, but also discusses and evaluates the possible membership of Central European ex-socialist countries. This should be a useful book for students and scholars interested in regional integration, and also for policy-makers in the new EU member countries and in applicant countries. Many of the issues addressed in this volume will be relevant for the EUs inter-governmental conference in 1996."

Following World War II, Nordic countries were commonly regarded as successful and stable economies. This perception was, however, shattered in the early 1990s when Finland and Sweden encountered severe financial crises. Here, the authors explore the symptoms of financial crisis - decreasing real income, soaring unemployment and exploding public deficits - and their devastating effects. The book compares and contrasts the experiences of Finland and Sweden, then adopts an international perspective, encompassing the experiences of Asia, Latin America, Denmark and Norway. Lessons from the 1990s crisis are drawn, and possible solutions prescribed. The conclusion is that long-term effects of financial crises - financial liberalization and integration - are not as dramatic as the short-term effects, but may prove to be of greater importance over time. Only the future will show whether these long-term benefits will balance or even outweigh the enormous short-term costs of the crises. Highly relevant to the current international financial crisis currently afflicting the world economy, this timely book will prove invaluable to economists and other social scientists with a general interest in financial crises, and to those with a more specific interest in the evolution and models of Scandinavian economies.

This compelling volume, from the Centre for Economic Policy Research, examines the discussion surrounding expansion of the European Union (EU). The contributors address the key issues in the debate, including the implications of expansion for the global trading system, enlargement-related pressures to reform EU decision-making, and the economic consequences of membership for entrants. Using theoretical techniques to report results and insights, this book not only sheds light on the consequences of Austria, Finland and Sweden joining the EU, but also discusses and evaluates the possible membership of Central European ex-socialist countries. This is an important book for students and scholars interested in regional integration, and also for policy-makers in the new EU member countries and in applicant countries.