This paper contributes to the debate engendered by the Delors Report on the issue of European Monetary Union. It focuses on the options of a strengthened (or hard-) EMS, with a commitment to a fixed exchange rate relative to the Deutschmark, or a European central bank with full monetary union...

In this paper we present two examples where the presence of inflation persistence could influence the qualitative nature of monetary policy. In the first case the desirability of a monetary policy regime comes under question when extensive inflation persistence exists. In the second case the...