The decisions taken at Maastricht seem to have finally removed the obstacles to European monetary union. So have the monetary questions really been settled? Is the process of monetary convergence irreversible?

Will Chancellor Schröder's alliance for employment, one of the central projects of his government, be able to deal effectively with the present employment crisis? Norbert Berthold and Rainer Hank show that the alliance will at best stabilize the employment crisis, at worst aggravate it. Using...