Skip to main content

External Imbalances in the European Monetary Union: The Case for Keynesian Income Policy

  • Chapter
Poland and the Eurozone

Part of the book series: Studies in Economic Transition ((SET))

  • 138 Accesses

Abstract

In the current monetary regime, which has been practised since the breakdown of the BrettonWoods system in 1971, there is no explicit coordination rule for economic policies on an international scale. In particular, central banks are not committed to stabilising exchange rates of their currencies. Whenever imbalances occur in international trade and international movements of capital, these should be contained by adjustments of market exchange rates. Nonetheless, an increasing concern has evolved in recent years regarding the growth of external imbalances that have been disclosed in the current accounts. In several G20 summits proposals came on the agenda to limit current account imbalances in relation to GDP. The background to those attempts at implementing an international coordination rule was the experience that high and lasting deficits in the current account of a country may work as an accelerator in the event of a financial crisis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Part II: Chapter 6 References

  • Blanchard, O., and F. Giavazzi (2002) ‘Current Account Deficits in the Euro Area: The End of the Feldstein-Horioka Puzzle?’ Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 33(2), pp. 147–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calmfors, L. (2001) ‘Wages and Wage-Bargaining Institutions in the EMU — A Survey of the Issues’. Empirica, 28, pp. 325–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carabelli, A.M. and M. A. Cedrini (2010) ‘Current Global Imbalances: Might Keynes Be of Help?’, in Bradley Bateman et al. (eds), The Return to Keynes. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, pp. 257–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission, (2012) ‘The surveillance of macroeconomic imbalances in the euro area’. Quarterly Report on the Euro Area, 11(1), pp. 7–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission, (2013) Statistical Annex of European Economy. Autumn 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holinski, N., C. Kool, and J. Muysken (2012) ‘Persistent Macroeconomic Imbalances in the Euro Area: Causes and Consequences’. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, January/February 2012, pp. 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Issing, O. (2002) ‘On Macroeconomic Policy Co-ordination in EMU’. Journal of Common Market Studies, 40(2), pp. 345–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keynes, J. M. (1929) ‘The German Transfer Problem’. The Economic Journal, 39, pp. 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinnon, R. (1963) ‘Optimum Currency Areas’. American Economic Review, 53, pp. 717–725.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinnon, R. and G. Schnabl (2006) ‘China’s Exchange Rate and International Adjustment in Wages, Prices and Interest Rates: Japan Déjà Vu?’ CESifo Economic Studies, 52(2), pp. 276–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meade, J. E. (1981) Targets and Weapons for Domestic Stabilisation and the Balance of Payments. Hamburg: HWWA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnabl, Gunther, and Timo Wollmershäuser (2013) ‘Fiscal Divergence and Current Account Imbalances in Europe’. CESifo Working Paper, No. 4108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomann, H. (2007) Monetary Integration in Europe. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tomann, H. (2014) ‘Building New Economic-Monetary Institutions in the EMU as a Response to the Financial Crisis’, in Jens Hölscher and Matthias Klaes (eds), Keynes’s Economic Consequences of the Peace: A Reappraisal. London: Pickering & Chatto.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2014 Horst Tomann

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Tomann, H. (2014). External Imbalances in the European Monetary Union: The Case for Keynesian Income Policy. In: Hölscher, J. (eds) Poland and the Eurozone. Studies in Economic Transition. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137426413_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics