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Germany and the Crisis of the Euro

Germany has been at the centre of the current crisis of the Euro and the debate on the rescue package for Greece. Beyond the controversial decision to put together a Euro 750 bill package to secure the stability of the Euro, the current crisis is likely to have a lasting effect on economic and monetary policy in Germany and Europe. Prof. Kurt Huebner, Director and Chair for German and European Studies at the Institute for European Studies at the University of British Columbia, states: "Nobody knows today whether the recently offered shock and aw package of about Euro 750 billion will have medium-term positive effects on the stability of the Euro. We know, however, that this latest manoeuvre will fundamentally change the EU and the working mechanism of the Euro zone. The EU is turning into a para-fiscal union where national budgets will be pre-screened by the EU Commission in order to ensure solid public spending behaviour. In terms of democracy, this is an upsetting path as a politically selected institution overrides democratically elected governments. In terms of economic policy, this marks the start to an era of new austerity which comes with attacks on the welfare state."

On this topic Prof. Kurt Huebner organizes the international conference on Global Currency Competition and Exchange Rate Arrangements - Present and Future that will take place on June 11^th- 12^th at the Institute for European Studies (IES), University of British Columbia.

The IES describes the thematic focus of the conference as follows: "It wasn't exclusively the Greek debt default crisis that caused exchange rate swings and thus currency policy issues to return to the international agenda. There has been increased interest in the area in recent years. It seems like just yesterday that analysts and academic economists alluded to the stronger role of the Euro in the global economy. The US dollar, on the other hand, was projected to lose its dominant role due to the deep financial and economic crisis. Obviously, things are in flux. Our international conference takes a closer analytical look at the undercurrents of the global currency regime. Speakers will include Benjamin Jerry Cohen (University of California), Francesco Mongelli (ECB & JW Goethe University), Andrew Martin (Harvard University), Amy Verdun (University of Victoria), Bernd Schnatz (European Central Bank, Frankfurt), Philipp Maier (Bank of Canada), Paul Bowles (University of Northern BC), Jörg Bibow (Skidmore College), and Peter Kenen (Princeton University)."