Recent efforts to create a European Central Bank (ECB) have stimulated debate on new topics for research into the political economy of the European Community's institutions. These include the exact division of responsibilities of national governments and the ECB - especially concerning exchange rate policy; the need for and design of constraints on national fiscal policies; and the nature of the transition from adjustable parities and national monetary policies to irrevocably fixed parities and a single European monetary policy. The book also considers the implications of EMU for the international monetary system - for the use of the ECU as a reserve currency and for policy co-ordination among the G-7 countries. The volume thus provides a comprehensive examination of the issues that will be decisive for Europe in its choice of monetary institutions.

Transatlantic economic relations are dominated by three factors which are of major historical significance. The first and most important is the multilateral process for trade liberalisation, deregulation of financial markets, and macroeconomic policy co-ordination. The second factor is a transatlantic environment of national and regional idiosyncrasies exemplified by protectionist initiatives, a significant weakening of the EMS, and changes in central bank statutes. The second factor is in part a political backlash against the first. The third factor affecting transatlantic economic relations is of course the emergence of regional economic relationships within the transatlantic economy, and a treaty calling for a common currency in Europe. In this 1996 volume, specialists in international trade, international finance, and political economy analyse the causes of these three factors, and their implications.

Previous efforts to create a European Central Bank (ECB) have stimulated debate on topics for research into the political economy of the European Community's institutions. These include the exact division of responsibilities of national governments and the ECB - especially concerning exchange rate policy; the need for and design of constraints on national fiscal policies; and the nature of the transition from adjustable parities and national monetary policies to irrevocably fixed parities and a single European monetary policy. The book also considers the implications of EMU for the international monetary system - for the use of the ECU as a reserve currency and for policy coordination among the G-7 countries. The volume thus provides a comprehensive examination of the issues that will be decisive for Europe in its choice of monetary institutions.

Transatlantic economic relations are dominated by three factors which are of major historical significance. The first and most important is the multilateral process for trade liberalisation, deregulation of financial markets, and macroeconomic policy co-ordination. The second factor is a transatlantic environment of national and regional idiosyncrasies exemplified by protectionist initiatives, a significant weakening of the EMS, and changes in central bank statutes. The second factor is in part a political backlash against the first. The third factor affecting transatlantic economic relations is of course the emergence of regional economic relationships within the transatlantic economy, and a treaty calling for a common currency in Europe. In this 1996 volume, specialists in international trade, international finance, and political economy analyse the causes of these three factors, and their implications.

Dieses Werk tritt im deutschsprachigen Raum die Nachfolge von Barros Makrookonomie an. Inhaltlich entspricht es der vierten Auflage von Barros Makrookonomie im amerikanischen Original. Diese wurde aber auf die europaische Perspektive hin und im Bereich der europaischen Institution vollstandig den hiesigen Erfordernissen angepasst. Damit erweist es sich erneut als ein fuhrendes deutschsprachiges Lehrwerk der Makrookonomie."