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Preface:
"Europäische Geldpolitik"
January
1, 1999 marked the beginning of a new era in European monetary policy.
On that date, those 11 European Union member states (Austria, Belgium,
Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Portugal and Spain) which in accordance with the decision taken by the
EU council met the criteria for joining monetary union introduced the
euro as a single currency. Since then, monetary policy has been centrally
conducted by what is known as the Eurosystem, comprising the 11 national
central banks and the European Central Bank, with binding effect on
the new currency area. It is no longer possible to take national needs
into account. Until 2002 the euro will exist only in cashless payments,
but for all practical purposes the 11 national currencies are merely
sub-denominations of the euro.
Bearing
all that in mind, textbooks on monetary policy which cover the institutional
conditions existing up to the end of 1998 only have limited informational
value. True, macroeconomic structures do not change from one day to
the next. In a wide range of areas, though, a new framework for monetary
policy has evolved. And it is precisely in the financial markets, which
play such a crucial role in the analysis of monetary policy's effects,
that many changes are taking place quite rapidly or have already been
factored by market players into their decisions. These changes involve
institutional aspects, the operational level of the money market, potential
intermediate targets and alternative strategic thrusts, yet they affect
the final objective, too.
In
the meantime, a multitude of papers and articles have been written covering
specific monetary policy problems relating to European economic and
monetary union. The national central banks and, in particular, also
the European Central Bank have gone to considerable lengths to provide
comprehensive information on the monetary policy strategy to be pursued,
the set of instruments and the management problems. However, in academe,
much like in debates on European monetary policy problems-assuming we
leave out groups of experts-it impossible to overlook the fact that
considerable information deficits do exist. The main objective of this
textbook is to eradicate that shortcoming by presenting the material
as comprehensively and as coherently as possible. The book is aimed
primarily at university and college students with a basic knowledge
of macroeconomic theory and monetary theory. However, the text is also
intended to make those segments of college studies at administrative
academies and related educational institutions dealing with monetary
policy readily accessible to students at such institutions. Moreover,
this book is intended also for persons working at banks and other financial
sector institutions who seek to deepen their knowledge of European monetary
policy.
We
wish to thank Dr. Caroline Willeke of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Dr. Ulrich
Bindseil and Dr. Dieter Gerdesmeier of the European Central Bank, Manfred
Eder of the Land Central Bank in the Free State of Bavaria, and our
colleagues Prof. Jörg Clostermann in Ingolstadt and Prof. Hans-Eggert
Reimers of Wismar, who all took the trouble to read and critique an
earlier edition of this book. They discovered many unclear passages
and holes in our arguments. Of course, all remaining errors and omissions
are ours alone. We would like to thank Ms. Iris Röckelein for typing
various versions of parts of this book and putting them together to
form a readable volume.
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