Monetary Policy in a Converging Europe: Overview of the Issues and Summary of the Discussion

With the date of the start of Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) rapidly approaching, the interest of central bankers and academics in various topics related to monetary policy in a converging Europe is increasing strongly. This book contains contributions from experts on subjects such as experiences of countries which have recently adopted a monetary policy strategy of direct-inflation-targeting, increasing monetary interdependencies in ERM countries, money demand (in)stability and the possible consequences for monetary policy co-ordination in Europe, credit characteristics and the monetary policy transmission mechanism in various industrialised countries, and finally the issue of which exchange rate policy to pursue in the run-up to the start of Stage Three.