Unsustainable Parities: The Exchange Rate Mechanism in Turmoil

Mary Davis
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Mary Davis: Postal: Department of Economics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Economics Policy Papers from Trinity College Dublin, Economics Department

Abstract: An examination of ERM parities demonstrates that several currencies were misaligned due to disparate performance regarding inflation. Overvalued currencies partly explain the existence of economic imbalances, such as large fiscal and current account defecits and high unemployment. These imbalances, combined with the shocks emanating from German economic and monetary union, rendered existing parities unsustainable. The European Union does not yet satisfy the criteria for an optimal currency area; labour is immobile, fiscal federalism is absent, asymmetric shocks are still possible. A European Monetary Union will not be possible until economic convergence is a reality rather than an aspiration.

JEL-codes: F33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1994
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tcd:tcduep:943

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