The transition phase to EMU has been accompanied by considerable monetary and fiscal consolidation efforts in the EU. This paper analyses this consolidation process and its effects on economic activity in the EU. It is tested to what extent fiscal retrenchment efforts have depressed or...

This paper analyzes the effects of macroeconomic shocks in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) using a stylized two-country model. First, it is shown how asymmetries between countries might matter in terms of the resulting business cycle fluctuations. More specifically, country-specific shocks...

[eng] This paper analyzes how monetary and fiscal policy rules can achieve macroeconomic stabilization in a two-country model of an economic and monetary union. Three specific factors play a role in absorbing the effects of macroeconomic shocks : (i) the degree of flexibility of economic-policy...