Three years after the birth of the European Monetary Union (EMU) economists are still divided in their assessment of the ability of its key institutions to provide macroeconomic stability and foster the reforms necessary to stimulate economic growth. In this collection, experts focus on issues of fiscal policy, monetary policy and labour markets and ask: Can the stability and growth pact provide an adequate framework for the conduct of national fiscal policies? Is the ECB reacting with competence and flexibility to a rapidly changing macroeconomic environment? How will national labour markets react to the new macroeconomic institutions and what are the structural reforms needed in labour markets? Blending empirical and theoretical data, this book offers one of the most comprehensive surveys of recent research in macroeconomic policymaking within the EMU today. ÍNDICE:1. The European Central Bank: a view from across the ocean.2. Which measure of inflation should the ECB target? (C. A. Tavero).3. An evaluation of alternative targeting rules for the ECB (P. Benigno and J. David Lopex-Salido).4. Inflation modelling in the Euro area F. Bagliano, (R. Golinelli and C. Morana).5. The interaction between monetary and fiscal policies in a monetary union: a review of recent literature (R. Beetsma and X. Debrun).6. Independent or coordinated? Monetary and fiscal policy in EMU (L. Lambertini and R. Rovelli).7. Interaction of fiscal policies on the Euro area: how much pressure on the ECB? (L. Onorante).8. The macroeconomic impact of different speeds of debt: stabilisation in EMU (C. Leith and S. Wren-Lewis).9. Fiscal shocks and policy regimes in some OECD countries (G. De Arcangelis and S. Lamartina).10. Monetary and fiscal policy interactions over the cycle: some empirical evidence (V. Anton Muscatelli, P. Tirelli and C. Trecroci).11. Monetary institutions, monetary union and unionized labor markets: some recent developments (A. Cukierman).12. Inflationary performance in a monet