ch20-Optimum-Currency-Areas-and-the-European-Exper

Click to edit Master title style,Click to edit Master text styles,Second level,Third level,Fourth level,Fifth level,Slide 20-,*,Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc.,Chapter 20,Optimum Currency Areas,and the European Experience,Prepared by,Iordanis Petsas,To Accompany,International Economics: Theory and Policy,Sixth Edition,by,Paul R. Krugman and Maurice Obstfeld,1,Chapter Organization,How the European Single Currency Evolved,The Euro and Economic Policy in the Euro Zone,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,The Future of EMU,Summary,2,Introduction,European Union countries have progressively narrowed the fluctuations of their currencies against each other.,This culminated in the birth of the euro on January 1, 1999.,This chapter focuses on the following questions:,How and why did Europe set up its single currency?,Will the euro be good for the economies of its members?,How will the euro affect countries outside of the European Monetary Union (EMU)?,What lessons does the European experience carry for other potential currency blocks?,3,Introduction,Figure 20-1,: Members of the Euro Zone as of January 1, 2001,4,How the European Single Currency Evolved,European Currency Reform Initiatives, 1969-1978,The Werner report (1969),It set out a blueprint for the stage-by-stage realization of Economic and Monetary Union by proposing a three-phase program to:,Eliminate intra-European exchange rate movements,Centralize EU monetary policy decisions,Lower remaining trade barriers within Europe,Two major reasons for adopting the Euro:,To enhance Europes role in the world monetary system,To turn the European Union into a truly unified market,6,The European Monetary System, 1979-1998,Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Italy, and Britain participated in an informal joint float against the dollar known as the “snake.”,Most exchange rates could fluctuate up or down by as much as 2.25% relative to an assigned par value.,The snake served as a prologue to the more comprehensive,European Monetary System (EMS),.,Eight original participants in the EMSs exchange rate mechanism began operating a formal network of,mutually pegged exchange rates in March 1979.,How the European Single Currency Evolved,7,Capital controls and frequent realignments were essential ingredients in maintaining the system until the mid-1980s.,After the mid-1980s, these controls have been abolished as part of the EUs wider “1992” program of market unification.,During the currency crisis that broke out in September 1992, Britain and Italy allowed their currencies to float.,In August 1993 most EMS currency bands were widened to, 15% in the face of continuing speculative attacks.,How the European Single Currency Evolved,8,How the European Single Currency Evolved,Figure 20-2,: Inflation Convergence Within Six Original EMS Members, 1978-2000,10,The EU “1992” Initiative,The EU countries have tried to achieve greater internal economic unity by:,Fixing mutual exchange rates,Direct measures to encourage the free flow of goods, services, and factors of production,The process of market unification began when the original EU members formed their customs union in 1957.,The Single European Act of 1986 provided for a free movement of people, goods, services, and capital and established many new policies.,How the European Single Currency Evolved,11,Three stages of the Delors plan:,All EU members were to join the EMS exchange rate mechanism (ERM),Exchange rate margins were to be narrowed and certain macroeconomic policy decisions placed under more centralized EU control,Replacement of national currencies by a single European currency and vesting all monetary policy decisions in a ESCB,How the European Single Currency Evolved,13,EU countries moved away from the EMS and toward the single shared currency for four reasons:,Greater degree of European market integration,Same opportunity as Germany to participate in system-wide monetary decisions,Complete freedom of capital movements,Political stability of Europe,How the European Single Currency Evolved,15,The Euro and Economic Policy in the Euro Zone,The Maastricht Convergence Criteria and the Stability and Growth Pact,The Maastricht Treaty specifies that EU member countries must satisfy several convergence criteria:,Price stability,Maximum inflation rate 1.5% above the average of the three EU member states with lowest inflation,Exchange rate stability,Stable exchange rate within the ERM without devaluing on its own initiative,Budget discipline,Maximum public-sector deficit 3% of the countrys GDP,Maximum public debt 60% of the countrys GDP,16,A,Stability and Growth Pact (SGP),in 1997 sets up:,The medium-term budgetary objective of positions close to balance or in surplus,A timetable for the imposition of financial penalties on counties that fail to correct situations of “excessive” deficits and debt promptly enough,The Euro and Economic Policy in the Euro Zone,18,The European System of Central Banks,It consists of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt plus 12 national central banks.,It conducts monetary policy for the euro zone.,It is dependent on politicians in two respects:,The ESCBs members are political appointments.,The Maastricht Treaty leaves exchange rate policy for the euro zone ultimately in the hands of the political authorities.,The Euro and Economic Policy in the Euro Zone,19,The Revised Exchange Rate Mechanism,It defines broad exchange rate zones for EU countries that are not yet members of EMU against the euro.,It specifies reciprocal intervention arrangements to support these target zones.,It is referred to as ERM 2.,It was viewed necessary in order to:,Discourage competitive devaluations against the euro by EU members outside the euro zone,Give would-be EMU entrants a way of satisfying the exchange rate stability convergence criterion,The Euro and Economic Policy in the Euro Zone,20,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,Theory of optimum currency areas,It predicts that fixed exchange rates are most appropriate for areas closely integrated through international trade and factor movements.,21,Economic Integration and the Benefits of a Fixed Exchange Rate Area:,GG,Schedule,Monetary efficiency gain,The joiners saving from avoiding the uncertainty, confusion, and calculation and transaction costs that arise when exchange rates float.,It is higher, the higher the degree of economic integration between the joining country and the fixed exchange rate area.,GG,schedule,It shows how the potential gain of a country from joining the euro zone depends on its trading link with that region.,It slopes upward.,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,22,Economic Integration and the Costs of a Fixed Exchange Rate Area: The,LL,Schedule,Economic stability loss,The economic stability loss that arises because a country that joins an exchange rate area gives up its ability to use the exchange rate and monetary policy for the purpose of stabilizing output and employment.,It is lower, the higher the degree of economic integration between a country and the fixed exchange rate area that it joins.,LL,schedule,It shows the relationship of the countrys economic stability loss from joining.,It slopes downward.,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,24,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,Figure 20-5,: The,LL,Schedule,Degree of economic integration between the joining country and the exchange rate area,Economic stability,loss for the joining country,LL,25,The Decision to Join a Currency Area: Putting the,GG,and,LL,Schedules Together,The intersection of,GG,and,LL,Determines a critical level of economic integration between a fixed exchange rate area and a country,Shows how a country should decide whether to fix its currencys exchange rate against the euro,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,26,The,GG,-,LL,framework can be used to examine how changes in a countrys economic environment affect its willingness to peg its currency to an outside currency area.,Figure 20-7 illustrates an increase in the size and frequency of sudden shifts in the demand for the countrys exports.,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,28,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,Figure 20-7,: An Increase in Output Market Variability,LL,1,GG,LL,2,2,2,Degree of economic integration,between the joining country and,the exchange rate area,Gains and losses,for the joining country,1,1,29,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,Figure 20-8,: Intra-EU Trade as a Percent of EU GDP,31,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,Table 20-2,: People Changing Region of Residence in 1986,(percent of total population),32,Case Study: Is Europe an Optimum Currency Area?,Europe is not an optimum currency area:,Most EU countries export form 10% to 20% of their output to other EU countries.,EU-U.S. trade is only 2% of U.S. GNP.,Labor is much more mobile within the U.S. than within Europe.,Federal transfers and changes in federal tax payments provide a much bigger cushion for region-specific shocks in the U.S. than do EU revenues and expenditures.,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,33,The Theory of Optimum Currency Areas,Figure 20-9,: Divergent Inflation in the Euro Zone,34,The Future of EMU,If EMU succeeds it will promote European political as well as economic integration.,If EMU fails the goal of European political unification will be set back.,Problems that the EMU will face in the coming years:,Europe is not an optimum currency area.,Economic union is so far in front of political union.,EU labor markets are very rigid.,SGP constrains fiscal policies.,35,Summary,Fixed exchange rates in Europe were a by-product of the Bretton Woods system.,The EMS of fixed intra-EU exchange rates was inaugurated in March 1979.,In practice all EMS currencies were pegged to the DM.,On January 1, 1999, 11 EU countries initiated an EMU by adopting a common currency, the euro.,Greece became the 12,th,member two years later.,36,Summary,The Maastricht Treaty specified a set of macroeconomic convergence criteria that EU countries would need to satisfy to qualify for admission to EMU.,The theory of optimum currency areas implies that countries will wish to join fixed exchange rate areas closely linked to their own economies through trade and factor mobility.,The EU does not appear to satisfy all of the criteria for an optimum currency area.,37,