The Euro and Economic Stability: Focus on Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe

The Euro and Economic Stability assesses the euro area's merits as a shelter and the merits of euro assets as a safe haven and reviews the case for rapid euro adoption from a post-crisis view. Policymakers and economists provide relevant lessons from euro area divergences for future euro area members and, more generally, from the financial crisis, while banking representatives discuss post-crisis business models of banks in the area. Last but not least, a theoretical introductory chapter fills the gap between mainstream macroeconomic modelling and real-world decision-making. he prime audience for this invaluable book will be economists and other experts in the fields of economic policy and European integration from central, commercial and investment banks, governments, international organizations, universities and research institutes. The book is also aimed at readers with a particular interest in the contributions' special regional focus: Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface The Academic View Up Front: Towards a New Macroeconomics Paul De Grauwe PART I: THE STABILITY MERITS OF THE EURO 1. The Euro’s Role on the World Stage Joaquín Almunia 2. The Euro’s Contribution to Economic Stability in CESEE Ewald Nowotny PART II: A CASE FOR RAPID EURO ADOPTION? 3. Serbia: On the De-euroization Road to the Euro Radovan Jelašić 4. A Case for Rapid Euro Adoption? Sławomir S. Skrzypek 5. The Czech Republic on its Way to the Euro: A Stabilization Role of Monetary Policy Revisited Jaromír Hurník, Zdeněk Tůma and David Vávra 6. Preparing for Euro Adoption Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell PART III: THE EURO AREA – A SHELTER? EURO ASSETS – A SAFE HAVEN? 7. The Euro Area: A Shelter? Estonia’s Perspective Märten Ross 8. Slovakia’s Experience with the Euro Ivan Šramko 9. Currency Substitution in the Economies of Central Asia: How Much Does it Cost? Asel Isakova 10. The Euro as a Safe Haven Asset in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe Helmut Stix PART IV: LESSONS – FROM EURO AREA DIVERGENCES, AND FROM THE CRISIS 11. Economic Divergence Within the Euro Area: Lessons for EMU Enlargement Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Antoine Berthou and Lionel Fontagné 12. Facts and Lessons from Euro Area Divergences for Enlargement Zsolt Darvas 13. Revisiting the European Financial Supervisory Architecture – Lessons from the Crisis in Emerging Europe Erik Berglof and Franziska Ohnsorge 14. Overconfidence as a Cause of Crisis: The Case of Ukraine Vladimir Dubrovskiy PART V: POST-CRISIS BUSINESS MODELS OF BANKS IN CEE 15. The Russian Banking Sector One Year After the Crisis Began Nataliya Orlova 16. Post-crisis Business Models of Banks in CEE – The Case of Raiffeisen Herbert Stepic 17. Post-crisis Business Models of Banks in CEE – The Case of Intesa Sanpaolo György Surányi Index

About the Author :
Edited by Ewald Nowotny, former Governor, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Peter Mooslechner, formerly Oesterreichische Nationalbank and Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald, Director, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Austria

Review :
‘The Euro and Economic Stability sounds today like a question repeatedly asked in the EMU, in the countries aspiring to join it and in the whole region. This question is not only of academic, but also of practical importance. Distinguished contributors, both from academia and policymaking institutions, national and international, prove to us that the answer is not simple. Moreover, it depends on the initial exchange rate regime of a country and on the importance of euro (and other foreign currencies) for domestic financial markets. Reading this book, thus, gives a much better understanding how complex are all possible links between the euro and economic stability.’