10 Jahre nach dem Inkrafttreten der WWU stellt die weltweite Finanzkrise den Euro-Raum auf eine Bewährungsprobe. Mangels anderer
Mechanismen zur Abfederung des Schocks sind eine konsequente Koordination der Wirtschaftspolitik und eine stärkere Zusammenarbeit
zwischen den Ländern des Euro-Raums und der EZB dringend geraten. Dies alles könnte zur notwendigen stärkeren Harmonisierung
des "europäischen Konjunkturzyklus" beitragen.
Keywords:Harmonisierung des Konjunkturzyklus Währungsunion Finanzkrise
Forschungsbereich:Makroökonomie und öffentliche Finanzen
Sprache:Deutsch
Lack of Cyclical Convergence Puts Euro Area at Risk
After 10 years of EMU and a largely positive outcome the global financial crisis will put the euro area to a serious test.
Indeed, the euro and the political adjustment processes it entails have already led to the emergence of a European business
cycle. As its perfect harmonisation has not yet been achieved and will remain an illusion, drastic events, such as the current
shock of a financial crisis, force fiscal and monetary policy makers to react flexibly. Due to the lack of other mechanisms,
such as fiscal federalism in the USA, to cushion severe shocks a more systematic coordination of all fields of economic policy
and an enhanced cooperation between member countries and the ECB seem highly advisable. The problems resulting from the financial
crisis will not be limited to the euro area, but will equally hit the UK, Switzerland and, above all, the USA. At the same
time the euro has become ever more important as an instrument for the diversification of world foreign reserves and for this
reason alone it is indispensable for the world economy. Admittedly, the current financial crisis has revealed some institutional
shortcomings (the unresolved issue of the role of the "lender of last resort"; to what extent will the "no bail-out rule"
be applied in an emergency). However, recent experience with the positive interplay of policy institutions has shown that
despite various prophecies of doom the viability of the euro area is beyond doubt.