Europe and the Euro.

• Position: Conferences

An NBER conference on "Europe and the Euro" took place on October 17 and 18 at Bocconi University in Milan. The conference highlighted the success of the first ten years of the Euro in terms of product market reforms, increased trade between members, successful monetary policy by the European Central Bank (ECB)--both in normal times and in the most recent turbulent months, progress towards more financial liberalization, and integration. However, the conference also noted the need for further progress in terms of labor market reforms, banking supervision and regulation on the European level, integration of financial markets, and synchronization of business cycles.

Organizers Alberto F. Alesina, NBER and Harvard University, and Francesco Giavazzi, NBER and Bocconni University, chose these papers to discuss:

Silvia Ardagna, Harvard University; Alberto F. Alesina; and Vincenzo Galasso, Universita Bocconi "The Euro and Structural Reforms"

Discussant: Otmar Issing, European Central Bank

Barry Eichengreen, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, "Is the Euro Forever?"

Discussant: Martin Feldstein, Harvard University and NBER

Antonio Fatas and Ilian Mihov, INSEAD, "The Euro and Fiscal Policy"

Discussant: Roberto Perotti, Universita Bocconi

Jeffrey A. Frankel, Harvard University and NBER, "The Estimated Effects of the Euro on Trade Why Are They Below Historical Evidence on Effects of Monetary Unions among Smaller Countries?"

Discussant: Silvana Tenreyo, London School of Economics

Ulf Soderstrom, Universita Bocconni, "Re-Evaluating Swedish Membership in the EMU: Evidence from an Estimated Model" and Ricardo DiCecio and Edward Nelson, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, "Britain and the Euro: Re-considering the Pros and Cons"

Discussant: Carlo Favero, Universita Bocconi

Matteo Bugamelli and Roberta Zizza, Bank of Italy; and Fabiano Schivardi, Universita di Cagliari, "The Euro and Firm Restructuring"

Discussant: Gianmarco Ottaviano, Universita di Bologna

Anil K Kashyap, University of Chicago and NBER, and Reint Gropp, European Business School, "A Gropp, European Business School, "A New Metric for Banking Integration in Europe"

Discussant: Loretta Mester, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Alberto Giovannini, Unifortune Asset Management, Milan, "The Integration of European Financial Markets: Why Has It Not Happened Yet?"

Discussant: Richard Portes, London Business School

Lucrezia Reichlin, European Central Bank, and Domenico Giannone, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, "Business Cycles in the Euro Area"

Discussant: Olivier J. Blanchard, MIT, NBER, and the International Monetary Fund

Steven G. Cecchetti, Bank for International Settlements and NBER, and Kermit L, Schoenholtz, Citigroup, "ECB Policy: The First Decade and...