Title: Reassessment of the OCA criteria in the Euro area: the case of Greece

Authors: Pantelis Sklias; George Maris

Addresses: Department of Political Science & International Relations, University of Peloponnese, Corinth, Greece ' Department of Political Science & International Relations, University of Peloponnese, Corinth, Greece

Abstract: The Greek crisis should not be considered an unexpected phenomenon. On the contrary, it has been caused by, among other things, rushed political decisions, incomplete EU institutions of governance and hidden political and economic causes. We analyse the optimality and effectiveness of the European monetary framework on two different levels: first by applying the OCA criteria to the EMU and second, by evaluating the main political and economic institutions and their vulnerabilities within the European level. We claim that many European countries, including Greece and other countries of Southern Europe remain unable to afford the vulnerable and one-sided, weak political and economic European monetary context. Additionally, we claim that unless deep governance structures emerge, a possible enlargement of the Eurozone could create more costs than benefits for both the candidate members and the Eurozone itself.

Keywords: EMU; Economic and Monetary Union; European governance; Greek crisis; optimal currency areas; political economy; Euro area; European monetary framework; Eurozone.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMEF.2012.048732

International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance, 2012 Vol.5 No.2, pp.124 - 138

Published online: 28 Aug 2012 *

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