Providing readers with a multi-faceted assessment of the implementation of fiscal policies in the euro zone and their macroeconomic effects five years after the inception of the euro, this book, international in perspective and scope, is the first reliable reference source for discussions in this area for both academics and policy makers.

Comprising contributions from distinguished researchers from different European countries and institutions the issues addressed include the:

• monetary and fiscal policy-mix
• evolution and control of fiscal aggregates over the business cycle and their implications for the SGP rules
• accountability of debt evolution
• financial spill-over of national fiscal policies
• measurement and assessment of automatic stabilizers.

Based on empirical evidence as well as being firmly rooted in theoretical analyses and giving particular emphasis to the constraint of the Stability and Growth Pact on the one hand and the presence of a single monetary policy on the other, this book is an invaluable tool students and researchers engaged with macroeconomic stabilization and monetary and fiscal policy interactions, as well as professionals in the public sector and the financial institutions of the EU.