European Central Bank

Michael Heine is Professor at Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin at the University of Applied Sciences, Berlin.Hansjorg Herr is Professor at the Berlin School of Economics. His books include Decent Capitalism: A Blueprint for Reforming our Economies (2011) and Macroeconomic Policy Regimes in Western Industrial Countries (2011).

• 1. Introduction: European integration2. From Bretton Woods to European Monetary Union3. The Maastricht Treaty and the Stability and Growth Pact4. The ECB’s structure and its political and legal framework5. Preconditions for a stable monetary union6. The failure of the 2-pillar strategy of the ECB and the revival of Wicksell7. Increasing economic fragility before the financial market crisis8. Monetary policy and the Great Recession9. Monetary policy and the escalation of the euro crisis up to 201210. The ECB holds the euro together11. The fiscal policy framework in the ECB12. Financial market supervision, banking union and financial market regulation13. Prospects for European policy making and the EMU

A very well-written book providing a comprehensive overview of the ECB and the major challenges facing European Monetary Union over the past two decades.