Sui Generis EMU

Barry Eichengreen

No 303, European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 from Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission

Abstract: The thesis of this paper is that there is no historical precedent for Europe's monetary union (EMU). While it is possible to point to similar historical experiences, the most obvious of which were in the 19th century, occurred in Europe, and had “union†as part of their names, EMU differs from these earlier monetary unions. The closer one looks the more uncomfortable one becomes with the effort to draw parallels on the basis of historical experience. It is argued that efforts to draw parallels between EMU and monetary unions past are more likely to mislead than to offer useful insights. Where history is useful is not in drawing parallels but in pinpointing differences. It is useful for highlighting what is distinctive about EMU.

Keywords: EMU; Monetary union; Euro; Economic History; international monetary system; History of monetary unions; Eichengreen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F15 N14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2008-02
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Working Paper: Sui Generis EMU (2008)
Working Paper: Sui Generis EMU (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:euf:ecopap:0303

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