Fiscal rules, financial stability and optimal currency areas

In this paper we suggest that Eurozone countries face a policy trade-off between: (1) a common rule imposing co-movements in fiscal policy; (2) financial stability; and (3) financial integration. We provide empirical evidence documenting the existence of such a trade-off in the period characterized by the financial crisis and by the sovereign debt crisis. Then, we conclude that the intense fiscal rules that have been introduced in the Eurozone after the emergence of the debt crisis can reduce the capacity of national governments to deal with asymmetric shocks and can be incompatible with either free capital mobility and/or financial stability. Crown Copyright (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.