This paper compares the euro area and the US in order to draw lessons for improving the Economic and Monetary Union. Although it is not perfect, the US comes closer to fulfilling the criteria of the Optimum Currency Area theory, and it did not experience the debt crisis that hit the euro area,...

The article examines recent developments in international housing markets and makes an assessment of the current situation. The first section demonstrates that the last upward movement in house prices in advanced economies, that started during the mid-1990s, differed from previous upward phases...