Introduction -- Katzenstein's world -- 1994-2001: the age of employment miracles -- 2001-2008: European integration intensifies -- Beyond 2008: coping with the crisis -- Unpacking Ireland's polity from a new institutionalist perspective -- Conclusions

In May 1997 the Czech Republic abandoned its exchange rate peg, the centrepiece of macroeconomic strategy since 1991. I examine the usefulness of theories of speculative attack in interpreting the crisis. Significantly, after the crisis subsided, competitiveness returned to its earlier level....