Banks play a central role in the functioning of the economy. Not only do they allocate financial resources, they also collectively create money in the process of granting loans. In this way, they have a considerable impact on the type of activities that are financed in society. During the...

During the fi nancial crisis the ECB has done its job quite properly. To secure an adequate provision of liquidity its monetary policy framework had not needed to be adjusted in fundamental ways. Interest rate policy was conducted under the infl uence of still sound economic fundamentals and...

To ensure long-lasting stability of the euro the common currency needs functional fiscal governance. The stability of the euro exhibits the properties of a common pool resource with respect to the states of the euro area. Therefore, design principles of robust polycentric governance systems can...