Sustaining the New Economy or The Travails of the Eurozone

Sustaining the New Economy: Work, Family, and Community in the Information Age

Author: Martin Carnoy

This book explores the growing tension between the requirements of employers for a flexible work force and the ability of parents and communities to nurture their children and provide for their health, welfare, and education. Global competition and the spread of information technology are forcing businesses to engage in rapid, worldwide production changes, customized marketing, and just-in-time delivery. They are reorganizing work around decentralized management, work differentiation, and short-term and part-time employment. Increasingly, workers must be able to move across firms and even across types of work, as jobs get redefined. But there is a stiff price being paid for this labor market flexibility. It separates workers from the social institutionsСfamily, long-term jobs, and stable communitiesСthat sustained economic expansions in the past and supported the growth and development of the next generation. This is exacerbated by the continuing movement of women into paid work, which puts a greater strain on the family's ability to care for and rear children. Unless government fosters the development of new, integrative institutions to support the new world of work, the author argues, the conditions required for long-term economic growth and social stability will be threatened. He concludes by laying out a framework for creating such institutions.

Interesting textbook: Voices from Chernobyl or Unequal Protection

The Travails of the Eurozone: Economic Policies, Economic Developments

Author: David Cobham

This book brings together leading economists from continental Europe, the U.S. and the U.K. to examine the slow growth and other problems experienced by the Eurozone in it's early years, and the challenges which is now faces. The authors investigate the operation of monetary and fiscal policy in the Eurozone, the extent of structural reform and the reasons for it, and other topics from the possible inflation increases in the 2002 notes and coin changeover to financial integration.

Table of Contents:

List of Tables     vii
List of Figures     ix
Notes on the Contributors     xi
Acknowledgements     xvi
Introduction   David Cobham     1
Understanding the Link between Money Growth and Inflation in the Euro Area   Katrin Assenmacher-Wesche   Stefan Gerlach     10
Discussion:Michael Sumner     40
Monetary Policy Shifts and Inflation Dynamics   Paolo Surico     42
Discussion: Fabrizio Mattesini     63
Is European Monetary Policy Appropriate for the EMU Member Countries? A Counterfactual Analysis   Bernd Hayo     67
Discussion: Carlo A. Favero     89
Fiscal Policy, Labour Markets and the Difficulties of Inter-Country Adjustment within EMU   Christopher Allsopp   David Vines     95
Discussion: Charles Nolan     120
The Economic Importance of Fiscal Rules   Michael J. Artis   Luca Onorante     123
Discussion: Campbell Leith     143
Has EMU Had Any Impact on the Degree of Wage Restraint?   Adam S. Posen   Daniel P. Gould     146
Discussion: John Driffill     175
Structural Reforms and European Monetary Union: What Can a Panel Analysis for the World versus OECDCountries Tell Us?   Ansgar Belke   Bernhard Herz   Lukas Vogel     179
Discussion: Gulcin Ozkan     205
The Euro and Financial Integration   Philip Lane   Sebastien Walti     208
Discussion: Robert Mochrie     231
The Impact of the Euro Changeover on Inflation: Evidence from the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices   Marco G. Ercolani   Jayasri Dutta     233
Discussion: Manfredi La Manna     267
Issues and Problems Related to Eurozone Entry of the New Accession Countries: An Analytical Review   Miroslav Beblavy     271
Discussion: Atanas Christev     290
A Portfolio-Based Analysis of Movements in the Euro-Dollar Rate   Ali Al-Eyd   Ray Barrell   Dawn Holland     293
Discussion: Jacques Melitz     313
Index     315