"This collective volume is undoubtedly a major contribution to understanding the causes and consequences of the crisis of the Euro-zone, with a special emphasis on the implications of new and not yet EMU members. A skilful combination of contrasting theoretical and policy perspectives, a refreshing interchange among academics and practitioners from a number of countries, it is a must reading for anyone seriously interested in the political economy of crisis and reform in Europe." -- Laszlo Csaba, Professor of International Political Economy, Central European University and Corvinus University of Budapest; Past President, the European Association for Comparative Economic Studies "This book offers a refreshing analysis of what is rapidly becoming Europe's lost decade. The authors, all established experts in their fields, see light at the end of the tunnel, but it seems quite distant." -- Andre Sapir, Senior Fellow, Bruegel; Professor of Economics, Universite libre de Bruxelles "The papers included in the volume uphold the pressing question of whether Europe can resume its role as a 'growth and convergence engine'. Issues of growth, macro-stabilization and employment in the economically diversified internal market come in this context to the fore of the discussion. The editor of the volume, Professor Beata Farkas, skilfully brings together research focusing on diverse facets of the European economies in order to address questions such as: (1) Does one size fit all? (2) How can we change the EU budget to make it more effective? (3) Can Europe learn some lessons from the two lost decades in Japan? (4) Is inflation targeting a proper approach in defining monetary policy? (5) How do we conduct an effective fiscal policy? The added value of the volume consists in diversified methodological and conceptual perspectives employed to address the problems at hand. Ideas and arguments are presented in a novel and interdisciplinary manner. As such, the discussion that unfolds throughout the volume will be stimulating for researchers, decision-makers in the government and those in the corporate world. My recommendation is simple: take the book and read it . . ." -- Katarzyna Zukrowska, Professor of International Economics and Political Science, Head of the International Security Department, Warsaw School of Economics; Member of the Prognoses Committee, Polish Academy of Science
About the Author: Beata Farkas is an Associate Professor at the University of Szeged, Hungary. She is the Head of the Institute of Finance and International Economic Relations. After obtaining degrees in Law (University of Szeged) and in Economics (Corvinus University of Economics, Budapest), she joined the University of Szeged and now holds a PhD in Economics. She was the founding Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. Her current research interest is in the comparative economics of European economies.