Dr Jan Fidrmuc

 

EC2006 Economics of the European Union

 

Autumn 2008-9

 

Lecture:       Monday       9-11 in LC064

Seminars:     Monday       12-13 in LC115

 

Office Hours:

Monday       13.30-14.30

Tuesday      11.30-12.30           or by appointment

 

Essay Assignment (deadline 24th November 2008)

 

Timetable

 

Week

Topic

Reading

1

Introduction; EU history, institutions and basic facts

BW 1+2

 

Seminar 1: Baldwin-Wyplosz Chapter 2 (BW 2): Self-assessment questions 6 and 7; Essay questions 5 and 6

 

2

Decision making

BW 3

 

Seminar 2: BW 3 self-assessment questions 1, 3 and 4.

 

3

Preferential trade liberalization and EU trade policy

BW 4+5+12

 

Seminar 3: BW 4 self-assessment questions 1, 3 and 5; BW 5 self-assessment questions 1 and 4, essay question 1.

 

4

Growth effects of economic integration

BW 7

 

Seminar 4: BW 7 self-assessment questions 1, 2 and 3; BW 8 self-assessment questions 5 and 8, essay question 2.

 

4/5

(a) Integration of labor markets, (b) East-West migration and (c) UK experience

BW 8+ZZ

 

Seminar 5: (a) Freedom to live and work in any EU country is one of the key elements of the Single Market Program. Discuss the main benefits and costs associated with free labor mobility in the EU. Feel free to go beyond economic considerations (e.g. social, political or cultural implications of labor mobility).

(b) Discuss arguments in favour and/or against imposing transitional arrangements on labor migration from those countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007.

 

6

Integration and scale effects; EU competition policy

BW 6+11

 

Seminar 6: BW 6 self-assessment questions 2, 3 and 4; BW 11 self-assessment question 1.

 

7

Political support for EU membership

FD+JV

 

Seminar 7: (a) Discuss how individual socio-economic characteristics may affect one’s ability to benefit from integration.

(b) Which factors influence whether people benefit from learning foreign languages? Discuss.

 

7/8

(a) Economics of Languages and (b) Multilingualism and linguistic reform in the EU

FG+FGW+ handout

 

Seminar 8: (a) Discuss factors that may affect the choice of linguistic regime in a multilingual country or organization.

 

9

(a) Common agricultural policy; and (b) Economic geography and regional policy

BW 9+10

 

Seminar 9: BW 9 self-assessment questions 1, 3 and 4; BW 10 self-assessment question 3.

 

10/11

(a) Monetary Integration in Europe, (b) Optimum currency area theory and (c) EMU

BW 13-18

 

Seminars 10-11: BW 16 self-assessment questions 7, 8 and 9; essay question 1.

(A) Some of the new member countries of the EU are very keen to join the EMU quickly while others still have not even named the target date for their eurozone entry. Discuss the pros and cons of eurozone membership from the point of view of the new member countries. Can you think of reasons why some countries appear keener than others? How about the existing EMU members, will they be affected by eurozone expansion?

(B) Recently, some Italian politicians have proposed that Italy should leave the eurozone and reintroduce the lira. Evaluate the potential benefits and dangers of this proposal.

(C) Some analysts have recently proposed that the EU should implement an EU-wide system of unemployment insurance. Discuss how this would affect the prospects for continuing and widening monetary integration in Europe.

(D) Recently, there have been intensifying calls for Belgium to split up into independent Flemish and Walloon states. Discuss how Belgium’s membership in the EU and EMU might affect this

 

12

Revision lecture

 

 

 

Reading

 

BW

Richard Baldwin and Charles Wyplosz, The Economics of European Integration, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, 2006, purchase strongly recommended.

FG

Jan Fidrmuc and Victor Ginsburgh, “Languages in the European Union: The Quest for Equality and its Cost,” European Economic Review 51 (6), August 2007, 1351-1369.

FGW

Jan Fidrmuc, Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber, “Ever Closer Union or Babylonian Discord? The Official-language Problem in the European Union,” mimeo.

FD

Jan Fidrmuc and Orla Doyle, “Who Favors Enlargement? Determinants of Support for EU Membership in the Candidate Countries’ Referenda”, European Journal of Political Economy 22, June 2006, 520-543.

JV

Lars Jonung and Jonas Vlachos, “The euro - what is in it for me? An economic analysis of the Swedish euro referendum of 2003,” SIEPS (Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies) 2007:2, Stockholm.

ZZ

Anzelika Zaiceva and Klaus F. Zimmermann, “Migration Potential and Its Labour Market Impact after EU Enlargement: A Review,” mimeo.

 

Last updated: 2 December 2008.