In these papers, leading international experts address the instability of the transition to EMU.

1. Introduction Francisco Torres and Francesco Giavazzi; 2. Economic and monetary union: critical notes on the Maastricht Treaty revisions Niels Thygesen; Discussion Lorenzo Bini Smagha, Victor Gaspar, Jose Vinals; 3. The design of optimal fiscal rules for Europe after 1992 Giancarlo Corsetti and Nouriel Roubini; Discussion Axel A. Weber; 4. Contracts, credibility and common knowledge: their influence on inflation convergence Marcus Miller and Alan Sutherland; Discussion David Backus, Michael Dooley; 5. Inflation in fixed exchange regimes: the recent Portuguese experience Sergio Rebelo; Discussion Michael Moore, Guido Tabellini; 6. Models of economic integration and localised growth Giuseppe Bertola; Discussion Joao Cesar das Neves, Charles Wyplosz; 7. Shocking aspects of European monetary integration Tamim Bayoumi and Barry Eichengreen; Discussion Giorgio Basevi, Patrick Minford; 8. Lessons of Massachusetts for EMU Paul Krugman; Discussion Alessandra Casella, Paul de Grauwe; 9. Financial and currency integration in the European monetary system: the statistical record Jeffrey Frankel, Steven Phillips and Menzie Chinn; Discussion Rudiger Dornbusch, Paolo Onofri; 10. Currency substitution: from the policy questions to the theory and back Matthew Canzoneri, Behzad Diba and Alberto Giovannini; Discussion Lucas Papademos, Antonio S. Mello; 11. Coordination of capital income taxes in the economic and monetary union: what needs to be done? Peter B. Sorenson; Discussion Alberto Giovannini; Index.