Without monetary stability, a stable society of free citizens cannot endure. Not for nothing did Lenin hold that the way to destroy bourgeois society is to debauch the currency Within European economic and monetary union (EMU), this may apply with even greater justification than within the boundaries of a nation state. After all, the single currency embodies in a special way a commonality of interest among the participants. Only if the euro is stable can it foster a sense of identification; a lack of confidence in the stability of the common currency would also undermine confidence in a ‘European community’.

Consequently, the central bank that is responsible for the currency occupies an important position in the structure of the nation state, and all the more so in a monetary union of largely sovereign states. Naturally, the central bank is not alone. It does not operate in a policy vacuum; the effects of its monetary policy depend very much on policy in other areas. Chief among these is fiscal policy. The state of labour markets, the behaviour of employers and labour, and the intensity of competition in the markets also play an important role. Finally, an overarching question needs to be answered: that of the relationship between monetary union and political union. Is EMU ultimately viable without political union?