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8 - Euro Crises, the Productivity Slowdown, and the EMU

from Part I - The Economic and Monetary Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2023

By
Nauro F. Campos
Edited by
Dariusz Adamski ,
Fabian Amtenbrink  and
Jakob de Haan
Dariusz Adamski
Affiliation:
University of Wroclaw
Fabian Amtenbrink
Affiliation:
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Jakob de Haan
Affiliation:
University of Groningen
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Summary

The objective of this chapter is to discuss the productivity implications of the financial and economic crises experienced by euro area economies since 2007. The argument is organized in three parts: the first discusses the euro crises and policy responses; the second focuses on the productivity slowdown; and the third examines productivity convergence in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The main conclusion is that the currently available evidence suggests that the crises in the euro area caused neither the productivity slowdown nor the disruptions in convergence patterns. Although this may well be because it is ‘still too early to tell’, the crises had a significant dampening effect: the productivity rebound that often follows recessions is yet to materialize, thus raising severe concerns in terms of convergence, integration, and welfare.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of European Monetary, Economic and Financial Integration , pp. 139 - 152
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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