The recent Global Crisis are posing challenges to the stability of the European Monetary Integration process. The pillar of the European Monetary Integration is the evolution of the European Monetary Union (EMU). Being the EMU the establishment of a currency union, such as international...

The aim of this paper is to use a behavioural political economy approach to revise the standard approach of optimal currency areas, and applying it to the Eurozone case. We discuss the pros and cons of the Euro membership if behavioural biases - prospect theory - influence the citizens and...

Since the inception of the Euro, European policy makers have been increasingly recognizing the ‘efficiency' gaps in EU financial supervision against a background of a decentralized institutional architecture for regulation, supervision and financial stability. Recognition of this gap had led...

Technocracy has come to be increasingly regarded as a threat to representative democracy. Significant attention has thus been recently devoted to exploring public preferences towards technocratic institutions. Elected policymakers’ attitudes have instead not been investigated as...

Which are the new frontiers in central banking? Which things have changed in the aftermath of the financial, economic and sovereign debt crisis? These are questions raised frequently by central bankers, academics and interested observers alike. There are quite a few areas to cover in answering...

This article discusses a form of fiscal monetization that produces losses in the central bank's balance sheet, without a permanent increase in the money base. If an independent central bank acts as a long-sighted policymaker, an optimal helicopter monetary policy can be identified. At the same...