Europe's Unfinished Currency
Europe’s Unfinished Currency outlines the origins of the euro within the quest for the unification of Europe. It explains the historical failures of past monetary unions, including the Latin and Scandinavian currency unions, the US dollar standard, and the Austro-Hungarian union. This book proposes a new EMU architecture, which includes the creation of a European Monetary Fund. It also discusses possible mutations of the EMU in case of failure.
Praise for Europe's Unfinished Currency
"A stimulating read, Dr. Mayer’s book combines a concise historical narrative of the events leading up to the euro with an imaginative suggested new architecture for the EMU. Particularly interesting are his insights on how a breakup, should it occur, would evolve."
— Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
"Thomas Mayer was years ahead in predicting Europe's economic and very political crisis. Now, he blazes a trail to stability, a path that leads to the politics and union of nineteenth-century America. This is a time of essays and short sound bites. 'Europe's Unfinished Currency' is a concise, crafted book that should be the template for all seeking the new political economics of Europe."
— Tom Keene, Editor-at-Large, Bloomberg News
"Thomas Mayer’s new book is an important intellectual contribution to the most pressing political and economic debate in contemporary Europe. Some of his suggestions are no doubt controversial, but he has provided a coherent argument in a discussion that will profoundly change the European unification process as we know it."
— Henning Meyer, Senior Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science
"This fascinating and well-written book couldn't be more timely. With the discussion on the eurozone's future institutional framework in full swing, Thomas Mayer's book provides highly relevant economic insights and political perspectives on the debate over how to make the European Monetary Union more stable and sustainable."
"Well organized, thorough, and replete with historical facts, this work explores the political and economic roots of the European Monetary Union and, most importantly, makes realistic suggestions for solving the current sovereign debt crisis and achieving greater stability in the long term."
— Theo Waigel, former German Minister of Finance
"Thomas Mayer has written a fascinating and thought-provoking book on the origin, performance and problems of the euro area. He questions much of the conventional wisdom about these topics, and proposes novel solutions that run counter to the historically prevailing view that currency union can only survive within a “political union” of the eurozone."
— Leszek Balcerowicz, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and President of the National Bank of Poland