The former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt holds that despite the huge transfers from West to East Germany the East German economy does not take off as it was widely expected. We argue it is not despite these transfers but because of them. Building on the common features of the extension of the...

The EURO has now been in place for more than two years, but only the future will tell if the ECB policy proves successful in the long-term. Whether the monetary authorities have sufficient information, and more important, the right information to manage the EURO currency, has been an open...