The ten countries joining the EU in 2004 will soon be forced to focus on the next big challenge of integration: their adoption of the euro. In this book, well-known economists and policymakers look at the next step in the integration process for accession countries: accession to European Monetary Union (EMU). They debate which monetary and exchange rate strategies are optimal during the run-up to EMU, and consider the conflict that may arise in trying to meet both the exchange rate stability and the Maastricht inflation criteria. The impossible trinity between monetary independence, exchange...

The nature of money and its impact on society has long interested scholars of economics, history, philosophy, law, and theology alike, and the recent financial crisis has moved these issues to the forefront of current public debate. In this study, authors from a range of backgrounds provide a unified examination of the nature and the purpose of money. Chapters cover the economic and social foundations of money; the historical origins of money in ancient Greece, China, the ancient Middle East, and medieval Europe; problems of justice connected to the use of money in legal systems and legal...