Euro

Chris Mulhearn, formerly Reader in Economics, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, UK and Howard R. Vane, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, UK

'In its first ten years, the euro has certainly been able to turn itself into a subject of debate. It has to be noted, however, that between specialist press articles, urban legends and books on advanced economic analysis that are often offputting for beginners, few authors can claim to have written anything that is both reader-friendly and capable of feeding the debate among specialists. In this book, Chris Mulhearn and Howard Vane, bridge the gap. The wide-reaching tone of the book is hinted at in the title. It is written for everyman with the aim of providing readers with all of the information they require to understand the importance of the single currency venture. This is a considerable challenge and the authors carry it off magnificently. From the very first page, the book deftly meshes the political, economic and historical dimensions of the euro in a disconcertingly smooth fashion without ignoring technicalities. . . in this period of economic and financial crisis, when some are predicting the collapse of the single European currency, the book comes at the right moment because it provides a comprehensive and natural analysis of the issue. . . This book was, of course, written before the financial crisis, and only time will tell whether the crisis will invalidate the authors' predictions. This does not change the fact that the book is an important contribution to European economic literature through its highly comprehensive coverage and user-friendliness.'

• Contents: Preface 1. The Euro and the Origins of European Integration 2. Before the Euro: The First Steps in the Process of Monetary Integration 3. The Economics of the Euro 4. The Euro’s Architecture 5. Euro-area Enlargement: Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom 6. Euro-area Enlargement and the Accession Economies 7. Reflections on the Future of the Euro Bibliography Index