ABSTRACT
This chapter takes an international perspective on European economic and monetary union (EMU). The chapter differs substantially in substance, but not in style, with Buiter (1998). Buiter neatly summarises the economic rationale for EMU, using a sequence of propositions which encompasses microeconomic and macroeconomic considerations as well as incorporating some challenges to the received wisdom on EMU using recent Keynesian models of the open economy. The aim of this chapter, however, is much more modest: a review of EMU, an evaluation of potential external effects on the international economy, and an incorporation of some of the political economy issues that may arise out of EMU.
