The crisis in the euro area

Autor: Jarosław Kundera

The EU passes the last wave of crises related to the problem of refugees, Brexit, crisis in the euro area. The crisis in the euro area was the first sign of the problems in the EU; it began with the global financial crisis in 2008, that affected also the economies of member countries. The book investigates the causes of the crisis in the euro area in order to seek the best methods for its overcoming. The analysis takes into account the experiences of four countries the most affected by the economic downturn (Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain). The experience of these countries shows that the fight against the crisis must be accomplished on by effective coordination of economic policies, but not only by individual austerity programs. Coordination should include monetary affairs as well as fiscal and structural policy. The need for a coordination of economic policy in euro area arises from growing spillover effects in the single market. To avoid the future crisis, the EU have to be reformed towards new institutional arrangements. The EU need new ideas of cooperation, to improve mechanism of European integration and to achieve new benefits. All proposed steps against the crisis in the euro area are mutually collateral: monetary integration requires fiscal coordination, ECB bailout program provides partly mutualisation of debts, monetary and fiscal integration requires banking union with common rules of deposit insurance; all of them require new budget and intuitional competence to provide optimal economic policy in all euro area. No institutional reforms in the EU means acceptance of the inherent fragility and potentially break up of euro area.

Spis treści
Chapter 1. The types and causes of economic crises
1.1. The concept of crisis
1.2. Causes of crises
1.3. Reasons of crisis in the eurozone
1.4. Methods to combat the economic crisis
Chapter 2. The euro area and theory of ‘optimum currency areas’
2.1. The theory of R. Mundell of currency area
2.2. The McKinnon’s Refinement of Currency Area Theory
2.3. Kenen’s eclectic view on Currency Area
2.4. Grubel’s model of a currency area
2.5. Fiscal and monetary policy in the euro area
2.6. Employment and monetary policy in the euro area
2.7. Optimal size of the euro area
2.8. Benefits and costs of exchange rate policy: Fixed versus flexible regimes
2.9. The euro’ peripheral members as an optimal currency area
Chapter 3. Pro and cons the euro area
3.1. From EMS to EMU
3.2. Transition from European Monetary System to European Monetary Union
3.3. The European System of Central Banks
3.4. The benefits of the euro area
3.5. The costs of the euro area
Chapter 4. The crisis in euro area member’s countries
4.1. The economic crisis in Greece
4.1.1. Foreign aids for Greece
4.1.2. The policy to overcome the crisis in Greece
4.2. The economic crisis in Spain
4.3. The economic crisis in Portugal
4.4. The economic crisis in Ireland
4.5. Methods to combat the economic crisis in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain
4.5.1. Fiscal consolidation
4.5.2. Structural reforms
4.5.3. Banking sector reforms
Chapter 5. The EU anti-crisis policy and future of the euro area
5.1. The euro area economies and global tilt of production and income
5.2. The EU institutional crisis
5.3. The debts crisis in the euro area
5.4. The costs of the EMU insolvent
5.5. Reforms of the euro area
5.6. Coordination of anti-crisis methods
5.7. The tax changes of the EU countries during the crisis
5.8. Perspective of EMU