International audienceBased on the hypothesis that states that the underlying cause of the crisis in the euro area is a combination of exchange-rate misalignments with uncoordinated wage policies, we explore different exchange-rate arrangements that may help to reduce imbalances between surplus and deficit countries. These alternative configurations of the eurozone, which imply abandoning the common currency to a greater or a lesser extent, are tested with a theoretical four-country stock-flow consistent model. We find that although the different alternatives of a multi-speed Europe vary in their stability and macroeconomic effects, in all cases they produce better results compared to the one that has been observed since the introduction of the euro
The crisis of the euro area has questioned the fairness, sustainability and viability of the current setting of the European Monetary Union (EMU). In this article we use a four-country stock–flow consistent (SFC) model in the tradition of Godley/Lavoie (2007a) to examine to what extent an adaptation to Europe of Keynes's plan of a clearing union with bancor balances could help reduce the imbalances that, at least in part, drove the eurozone into crisis. Our simulation experiments suggest that the implementation of Keynes's ideas may conduct European countries to a stronger and more sustainable growth cycle.
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