Book Reviews

Daniel Gros of Centre for European Policy Studies reviews, “Making the European Monetary Union: The Role of the Committee of Central Bank Governors and the Origins of the European Central Bank” by Harold James. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the creation of the European Monetary Union and considers its design, process, and risks. Discusses a Napoleonic prelude; the origins of the Committee of Governors; the response to global monetary turbulence; the metaphor of the snake; negotiating the European Monetary System; the malaise of the 1980s; the Delors Committee and the relaunching of Europe; designing a central bank; and the European Monetary System crises. James is Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies and Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University.”