EU Economics: How far is the Eurozone away from being an OCA?

There‘s no shortage of reasons these days for Euro-sceptics to argue against the UK joining the Euro zone and take on the Euro.

Sterling vs Euro exchange rate, daily from Timetric

Many would argue that by having your own currency and allowing sterling to depreciate has in fact boosted net exports at a time when all other components of aggregate demand have been muted during the downturn.

However, perhaps the strongest argument is that in order for a currency union to work, the proposed region needs to be an optimum currency area. and the Euro zone is still some way of achieving this status.

In order to be an OCA, amongst other things, the region must be prepared to use fiscal transfers to even out some of the regional economic imbalances within the European currency union, something until relatively recently, some countries have been reluctant to do.

Perhaps due to certain countries perceived fiscal profligacy and mismanagement over the years, the idea of bailing out the irresponsible by the more prudent has been a difficult idea to sell to tax-payers.

In order to join the Euro zone, prospective members must sign the so-called Stability and Growth Pact, whereby no member country is allowed to have budget deficits exceeding 3% of GDP, nor have public debt above 60% of GDP.

The chart below and found here, highlights 97 cases of deficits of EU members exceeding 3%.

According to the post, two-thirds of these breaches were not justified and went by unpunished thus damaging the credibility of the union. Meanwhile “debts and deficits grew unhindered” until the mismanagement was exposed and this second wave of the crisis unfolded.

In order for the Euro zone to function there needs to be some degree of fiscal integration and the article above looks at the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism and how it should be implemented in order to move a step closer to being an effective OCA. The BBC reported here on the decision to expand the same fund.

Unit 2 Macro: Cyclical and Structural Economic Issues Facing the UK [23 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Positive and Negative Multiplier Effects [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Importance of Productivity [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Human Development Index (HDI) [20 May 2012]
Q&A: What do we need to know about output gaps? [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Output Gap [20 May 2012]
Revision notes on unemployment [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Bank Cuts UK growth Forecast for 2012 [16 May 2012]
Grexit - Andrew Balls on Greece and the Euro [16 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision Notes on Supply-side Policies [10 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Model answer for revision data question [9 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: 10 Key Revision Topics for EdExcel [7 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Exchange Rates Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Monetary Policy and Inflation Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Trade and Balance of Payments Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Fiscal Policy Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Economic Cycle Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Aggregate Demand Glossary [5 May 2012]
Macro Revision - Key Statistics on the UK Economy [4 May 2012]
Robert Schiller - Finance and the Good Society [1 May 2012]
Macro Revision: Putting Things in Context [29 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Britain back in Recession [29 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: The Euro Zone Crisis (Revision) [22 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Managing the Global Commons - Limits to GDP [15 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Globalisation and the Growth of Ports [10 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Balance of Payments in 2011 [4 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision on Interest Rates and the Exchange Rate [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Productivity Improvements in China [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Floating and Managed Floating Exchange Rates [2 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision on Real Economic Data [2 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Pain in Spain as Fiscal Austerity Bites [1 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Gross National Happiness in Bhutan [31 Mar 2012]
Posen on slower growth in the UK compared to the USA [30 Mar 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: EU Imposes Further Price Cap on Mobile Phone Companies [29 Mar 2012]
Global Economy- the 2012 BRICS Summit [28 Mar 2012]
Life in the Slow Lane - UK Growth in 2011 Lags the Euro Area [28 Mar 2012]
George Buckley at the Millfield Economics Society [28 Mar 2012]
Beyond the Bike - Monetary Policy in Africa [28 Mar 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Evaluating 3 Years of Quantitative Easing [27 Mar 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Video Resources on the Euro Crisis [10 Mar 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Enlarging the EU [9 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Policies to Drive Economic Recovery [9 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: News Videos on the German Economy [9 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Might Oil Prices Bring another Recession? [4 Mar 2012]
Pinterest: Board on Developments in the EU Economy [19 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Dash for Gas in Mozambique [17 Feb 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: King on the UK Economy [15 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: China’s Trade Engine is Spluttering [10 Feb 2012]
Martin Wolf on Global Shocks [10 Feb 2012]
Trucks are the new way of measuring debt [1 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development - Some Indicators [30 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Comparative Advantage [27 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Trade and Growth [27 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Carbon Emissions and Growth [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Per Capita Incomes [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Changing Economic Structure [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Economic Growth [24 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Russia Joins the WTO [22 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: France loses her AAA credit rating [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Economics of Fiscal Deficit Reduction [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: UK Bond Yields Reach Record Lows [11 Jan 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Low Cost Airlines Beat the Recession [1 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Exchange Rate Economics - Where next for the US Dollar? [31 Dec 2011]
European Economics: Resources on the CAP [28 Dec 2011]
2011 in Review - The US Economy [27 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Housing Market in 2011 [26 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Brazil Overtakes UK in Economic Size [26 Dec 2011]
The Eurozone Crisis Explained (again!) [22 Dec 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Celebrating (?) Ten Years of Euro Notes and Coins [2 Dec 2011]
Where is the UK Economy? National Output [22 Nov 2011]
Beyond the Bike - The Value of Money [19 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Should the EU introduce a Tobin Tax? [14 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
Eurozone crisis - a selection of resources [12 Nov 2011]
AS and A2 Macro: GDP resources from Planet Money [31 Oct 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
Keynes Prize: The Economics of Cities (2) [13 Oct 2011]
Keynes Prize: The Economics of Cities (1) [12 Oct 2011]
Skidelsky in Madrid [12 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: UK suffers a weak recovery [12 Oct 2011]
Why Is Macroeconomics Such A Mess? [11 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Exercise on National income [27 Sep 2011]
Greek debt decision tree [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Greek Economy at Default’s Door [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Greece on the Brink of Default [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: IMF Flags up Risks of Double Dip [20 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Measuring national income [16 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Value Added and Contributions to a Nation’s GDP [16 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Introduction to GDP [15 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Economic Growth and Inequality [14 Sep 2011]
Study Note - What is Macroeconomics? [13 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Value Added in Production and GDP [11 Sep 2011]
Mixing with the Nobel Economists [4 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: GDP per person since the credit crunch [19 Aug 2011]
hiphopnomics [31 Jul 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Dangers of High Inflation [11 Jul 2011]
AQA ECON4 Context [20 Jun 2011]
A2 Macro: Consumer Spending [30 May 2011]
AQA Macro: Remember to revise inflation [25 May 2011]

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