Economic and Monetary Union Macroeconomic Policies ― Current Practices and Alternatives

This book focuses on the construction of the economic policies of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and its institutions. It reviews the faltering economic performance of the EMU countries before and after the onset of the financial crisis. It exposes the shortcomings and design faults of the EMU project on fiscal and monetary policies under the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and now the 'fiscal compact'. It critically examines the labour market agenda of the EMU and argues for avoidance of the neo-liberal employment policies being advocated. It proposes an alternative policy agenda for a sustainable currency union, and asks whether a currency union can be sustained without de facto political union.

Philip Arestis is Director of Research at the Cambridge Centre for Economics and Public Policy, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK, and Professor of Economics at the Department of Applied Economics , University of the Basque Country, Spain. He is also Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Utah, US; Senior Scholar, Levy Economics Institute, New York, US; Visiting Professor, University of Leeds, UK; Professorial Research Associate School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)University of London, UK; Chief Academic (External) Adviser to the UK Government Economic Service (GES) on Professional Development in Economics; and holder of the 'Queen Victoria Eugenia' award of the British Hispanic Chair of Doctoral Studies. He has published as sole author or editor, as well as co-author and co-editor, a number of books and papers in academic journals.


Malcolm Sawyer is Professor of Economics at Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, UK. He is the principal investigator for the 5 year 15 partner project Financialisation, Economy, Society and Sustainable Development (www.fessed.eu) funded by the European Commission Framework Programme 7. He is managing editor of International Review of Applied Economics, on the editorial board of a range of journals and editor of the series New Directions in Modern Economics. He has published widely in the areas of post Keynesian and Kaleckian economics, industrial economics and the UK and European economies. He has authored 11 books, edited 18 and published over 80 papers in refereed journals and contributed chapters over 100 books.