...original aims of the European Community This paper considers the original aims of the European Economic Community on its formation under the Treaty of Rome 1957 as a background to the transformation of the EEC into the European Community. A discussion of the subsequent development of the EC thereafter forms the main body of this work and the staged development of the EC through subsequent amending treaties provides the focus of the analysis offered. A brief historical survey of the European Economic Community The European Community of 2008 sees its origins in the six member European Economic Community formed by the ratification of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The signatory member states were France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux states. It is submitted at the outset that the EEC was founded largely on fear. It is hard to appreciate from the perspective of 2008, exactly what motivated the founding fathers of the Treaty of Rome to pursue integration because the world has moved on, but in the 1950s the base motivation was manifest and pressing. The continent of Europe had endured two catastrophic World Wars in the space of one generation. War had ravaged each and every country of Europe, and in particular the founding member states. The architects of the Treaty of Rome, including Italian Prime Minister Antonio Segni, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman and French civil servant Jean Monnet, while undoubtedly harbouring in the back of their minds lofty notions of improving...
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...The European Union (EU) was established in 1957 by six western European countries. Then known as the European Economic Community (EEC), its aim was to create a Common Market. During its lifetime, the EU has evolved from this Common Market towards monetary union with the establishment of a single currency, the Euro. There has also been a great deal of political integration, with an example of this being the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Currently, membership of the European Union consists of twenty five states. The last wave of admissions included many former Communist bloc countries such as Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The next scheduled enlargement is in 2007, when Romania and Bulgaria are scheduled to join. After this, the next state scheduled to join is Turkey, which will open negotiations with the EU in October 2005. Potential Turkish membership of the EU is in many ways a paradox. Turkey has for many years had pro-western leanings. Its strategic requirements during the Cold War led Ankara to strongly embrace NATO and rely on the west for its security guarantees. Also, the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk founded the state on six profoundly western pillars. These were: firstly, Secularism, which effectively meant removing the direct influence of religious leaders on political decisions and education; secondly, Republicanism, organising the polity as a modern state, as opposed to the Ottoman Empire; thirdly, Populism, not accepting...
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...and Brianna Lee Updated: July 31, 2012 This publication is now archived. Introduction What is Mercosur? What are associate members? Why was Paraguay suspended as a Mercosur member? What are the implications of Venezuela joining as a full member? Does Mercosur have a political agenda? How does Mercosur affect other regional groups? How has Mercosur stimulated cooperation among its members? What are the prospects for Mercosur's future? Introduction Mercosur, the "Common Market of the South," is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay (which is currently suspended), and Uruguay to promote the free movement of goods, services and people among member states. Mercosur's primary interest has been eliminating obstacles to regional trade, such as high tariffs and income inequalities. Yet experts say Mercosur has become somewhat paralyzed in recent years, with its members divided over whether the organization should remain focused on regional trade or whether it should add political affairs to its mandate. In July 2012, Venezuela was admitted to the trade bloc as its fifth full member with complete access to the common market and voting rights, a move that some analysts say will primarily benefit Argentina and Brazil and further politicize the organization. The creation of a regional customs union in 2008, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), also has raised questions about Mercosur's utility. Moreover, Paraguay's 2012 suspension from the bloc...
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...Getting to Know Mercosur Zak K. Blondis University of Memphis: Fogelman College of Business and Economics Abstract This paper is a brief overview of Mercosur and its current state, and will focus on the background, formation, global and regional impact of Mercosur and its members as well as the current dilemmas that are being faced. Issues ranging from economic to political will be discussed throughout. Internal disputes and protectionist policies place Mercosur in an uncertain situation as they focus to defend their own domestic products all whilst maintaining a steady external trade. A continuing worldwide economic power house, Mercosur continues to struggle with certain facets of trade and political structure. Background South America throughout past decades has seen bloodshed and political instability, and despite much improvement there is still reoccurring corruption to date. Although the Pablo Escobar reign in Colombia, Noriega’s rule in Panama, and Castro’s hold on Cuba are no longer relevant, there still remains similar political instability today. Mercosur directly translated is Mercado Comun del Sur, or The Southern Common Market, and is a trade bloc for six of South America’s member nations (See Appendix A for current member countries) where they enjoy free trade, very similar to that of the North American Free Trade Agreement, where the goal is full South American economic integration. Enacted in 1991 under the Treaty of Ascuncion, Mercosur was created...
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...highest since the financial crisis in 2008 and with irrational investing behind banks and the private sectors; it only worsened their economy. The complicated areas of the European economy mostly have been due to countries spending vast amounts of borrowed finances than they have fluctuating within their own nation. Countries deficits are still increasing after the US financial crisis and it has led to continuous austerity agreements and negotiations to prevent these issues from relapsing. Greece is in a classic sovereign debt crisis and while struggling to fix their deficit, (currently the largest in the Eurozone) this turned to controversial debates whether or not to let Greece free of the euro, or continue to keep them in. The problem of the matter relies heavily on the political sector of the union as well as the economic foundation represented in Greece’s past, showing that releasing the nation from the euro will only cause more harm than actually stabilizing them in. The US financial crisis of 2008 grew strongly towards the inefficiency between the banks and investors, who failed to act rational in accordance with the economy (Heath 401). In an efficient market, one person’s gains are another person’s loss but one cannot strategize placement in the market through someone making continuous fallacies. This is why one must focus the best about people in an economy to expand rational market behavior. The key importance in this theory is the predictability of being irrational. Joseph...
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...Frederick European Public Policy PO 886 Schneider Second essay 4612 words (excluding references) Why does the EU find it difficult to reform its policies? Answer with reference to two policy areas of your choice. UNIVERSITY OF KENT 2007-2008 There is something strange about European Union policies: they are always reformed and they always need to be reformed further. This is due to the fact that these reforms concern mainly the form and not so much the content. The seven objectives of the regional policy have been replaced by three objectives in the 2000-2006 budgetary perspective, which have themselves been converted into three principles for the 2007-2013 period but it did not leqd to any revolutionary change. The CAP has been reformed in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1999, and 2003, but the principle of protecting agriculture from market forces remained intact. Scholars, especially economists, often criticise this inertia claiming that real reforms are necessary to avoid huge economic costs and to ensure a long-term development. Why is it so difficult to reform EU policies? What are the factors encouraging these reforms and those leading to their lack? We have chosen the Common Agricultural...
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...E SSAY COLLECT ION Crisis in the Eurozone Transatlantic Perspectives ESSAY COLLECTION Crisis in the Eurozone Transatlantic Perspectives This publication is a part of CFR’s International Institutions and Global Governance (IIGG) program and has been made possible by the generous support of the Robina Foundation. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Founded in 1921, CFR carries out its mission by maintaining a diverse membership, with special programs to promote interest and develop expertise in the next generation of foreign policy leaders; convening meetings at its headquarters in New York and in Washington, DC, and other cities where senior government officials, members of Congress, global leaders, and prominent thinkers come together with CFR members to discuss and debate major international issues; supporting a Studies Program that fosters independent research, enabling CFR scholars to produce articles, reports, and books and hold roundtables that analyze foreign policy issues and make concrete policy recommendations; publishing Foreign Affairs, the preeminent journal...
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...Latin America, out of IMF’s control World Economy and Latin America 20 December, 2011 Contents Introduction Past relationship between Latin America and IMF How LAC could get out of IMF’s control Conclusion Introduction Latin America was a volatile region with a history of exceptionally high inflation rates, substantial macroeconomic instability, and a record of unsuccessful monetary and fiscal stabilizations. However, during the past decade, Latin America’s economy has strengthened their body and benefited from high exports, strong economic growth in its trading partners and good global financial conditions and domestic policies. All of this is related with international financial institutions and one of IFIs, International Monetary Fund had affected in currency perspective in the region. In this paper, I will search the changing relationship between Latin America and one of IFIs, IMF whose role is so involved with Latin America’s economy. The first session will explain the relevance between the region and IMF and in the following part, there will be the reasons that Latin America could escape from IMF’s control. Past relationship between Latin America and IMF The IMF was set up to assist countries that had temporary current account deficits and lacked a sufficient quantity of official reserve assets to support a fixed exchange rate. However, the slow motion collapse of the fixed exchange rate system in the 1970s created an odd situation for the IMF. At about the...
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...Long-Term Relationship" By Louis Uchitelle, New York Times, Saturday, September 18, 2004 1. The subject of this article centers on the current account balance. Does this seem like an "international trade" or an "international money" issue? Answer: Aspects of the issue seem to overlap with both areas of international economics. The article discusses goods and services transactions [trade], as well as international borrowing and exchange rates [money]. 2. Many economists seem to be giving the issue of the current account a lot of thought. Does there seem to be a consensus in the article? Does your answer surprise you? Answers will vary. If anything, the consensus is confusion—confusion at how the deficit has persisted for so long with no severe consequences. Bergsten stands out as the most alarmed, though almost every economist seems a bit concerned about the trade deficit. This economist, on the contrary, is not concerned at all about the current account deficit, and you may come to your own conclusion upon reading further chapters. In general economists tend to agree about many big-picture issues, but may disagree occasionally where the data is open to interpretation or when more ideological considerations come into play. 3. Near the end of the article there is a logical fallacy about the current account deficit. Can you find it? Answer: The 4th to last paragraph begins with the sentence "[w]ith less and less production at home…" This sentence is fallacious...
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...because participating banks could default on their obligations and the rate paid for Eurodollar deposits in addition to the spread over LIBOR for borrowers. It also help to reduce the cost of using the Euromarket for borrowers. Eurocurrencies are domestic currencies of one country on deposit in a second country. Any convertible (exchangeable) currency can exist in “euro-“ form. Eurocurrency markets serve two valuable purposes: These deposits are an efficient and convenient money market device for holding excess corporate liquidity; This market is a major source of short-term bank loans to finance corporate working capital needs. * The modern Eurocurrency market was born shortly after WW II. Eastern European holders of dollars, including state trading banks in the Soviet Union, were afraid deposit their dollar holdings in the US because they felt claims could be made against these deposits by US residents. These currency holders then decided to deposit their dollars in western Europe. While economic efficiencies helped spurn the growth of this market, institutional events were also important. * -Eurocurrency interest rate is the LIBOR: in the Eurocurrency market the reference rate of interest is LIBOR – the London interbank offered rate. LIBOR is now the most widely accepted rate of interest used in standardized quotations, loan agreements or financial derivatives valuations. LIBOR is officially defined by the British bankers association. For example, the US...
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...Maintain Unhealthy Long-Term Relationship " By Louis Uchitelle, New York Times, Saturday, September 18, 2004 1. The subject of this article centers on the current account balance. Does this seem like an "international trade" or an "international money" issue? Answer: Aspects of the issue seem to overlap with both areas of international economics. The article discusses goods and services transactions [trade], as well as international borrowing and exchange rates [money]. 2. Many economists seem to be giving the issue of the current account a lot of thought. Does there seem to be a consensus in the article? Does your answer surprise you? Answers will vary. If anything, the consensus is confusion—confusion at how the deficit has persisted for so long with no severe consequences. Bergsten stands out as the most alarmed, though almost every economist seems a bit concerned about the trade deficit. This economist, on the contrary, is not concerned at all about the current account deficit, and you may come to your own conclusion upon reading further chapters. In general economists tend to agree about many big-picture issues, but may disagree occasionally where the data is open to interpretation or when more ideological considerations come into play. 3. Near the end of the article there is a logical fallacy about the current account deficit. Can you find it? Answer: The 4th to last paragraph begins with the sentence "[w]ith less and less production at home…" This sentence is fallacious...
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...gross domestic product will expand by just 1 percent in 2015. Despite the evident problems in Eurozone, Germany and France are determined to restore a confidence to the Euro.’ Discuss the statement, and use examples to justify your opinion. 1.0 Introduction The Global Financial Crisis or the ‘great recession’ as it is now known has been widely regarded as the worst global recession since the end of the Great Depression (Drezner, 2014). The events following the collapse of the US housing market and the subsequent financial meltdown has had consequences on a global scale, nowhere is this more evident than in the Eurozone (Allen & Ngai, 2012). The Eurozone, made up of 19 EU member states that have adopted a common currency and monetary policy, have faced increasing levels of public debt, economic stagnation and civil unrest (Ucler et al. 2015). Problems are further compounded by the fact that there...
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...privatisation of public sector assets have proven difficult for local governments to serve. The funds inability to keep pace with an expanding global economy suggest redefining itself with a more modest role that is fitting for such an international monetary system may be the best approach, As opposed to expanding the funds activities. Table of contents 1. Introduction page 1 2. Objectives page 1 3. Rationale page 1 4. Literature review page 2 4.1 The Mandate page 2 4.2 Consequences of IMF Programme Implementation page 2 4.3 IMF Relevance page 6 5. Conclusion page 9 6. Reference 1. Introduction This literature review will examine the effectiveness of intervention by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It will challenge the results of IMF programs and attempt to derive whether the Fund still serves a meaningful role in today's global economy. The International Monetary Fund was formed during a United Nations conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in July 1944. At its...
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...Lyn Klein Economics for Global Managers Professor Victoria Vernon Module 3 Case Study: European Union 7/3/14 The EU is facing a banking crisis. There are insolvent banks in Ireland and Spain, as well as other nations. They lent out too much money, often against real estate. There were real estate bubbles then the value of real estate fell and borrowers could not always pay back the loans. The Greek banking crisis was caused by the government spending too much and borrowing too much money. The economy collapsed causing the banks to be insolvent. Before the collapse banking was conservative. When a nation has insolvent banks belonging to the Euro zone make that problem much worse. There were silent funs on Greek banks, with capital flight; people are pulling their money out of the Greek banks and sending it elsewhere, making the Greek economy worse. The common currency zone escalates the problems. There are also capital and trade imbalances. Germany is exporting a great deal more than it imports, causing capital flows into Germany. Spain and Greece import more than they export so capital flow is out of the country. They need to become more productive at exporting, which is not always easy. In the 2000’s money flowed into periphery countries, borrowing rates were low and capital inflow brought rising standards of living. By 2010’s money was flowing out of the periphery countries and back into Northern Europe. Periphery economies were starved for investment...
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...Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://lec.sagepub.com/content/26/6-7/594.refs.html >> Version of Record - Nov 17, 2011 What is This? Downloaded from lec.sagepub.com at UNIV OF GUELPH on November 17, 2013 Review article The euro crisis Andrew Jones Local Economy Policy Unit, London South Bank University, UK Local Economy 26(6–7) 594–618 ! The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0269094211421748 lec.sagepub.com ´ ˜ Marco Buti, Servaas Deroose, Vıtor Gaspar and Joao Nogueira Martins (eds), The Euro: The First Decade, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2010; 1048pp: ISBN 978-9279098420, £95 (hbk); Roy H. Ginsberg, Demystifying The European Union: The Enduring Logic of Regional Integration (2nd edn), Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham, MD, 2010; 422pp: ISBN 978-0742566927, £21.95 (pbk); Michael Mitsopoulos and Theodore Pelagidis, Understanding the Crisis in Greece: From Boom to Bust, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, 2011; 272pp: ISBN 978-0230237773, £65 (hbk); Peadar Kirby, Celtic Tiger in Collapse: Explaining the Weaknesses of the Irish Model (2nd edn), Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, 2010; 288pp: ISBN 978-0230237445, £19.99 (pbk); ´...
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