Macroprudential policy in a currency union

The past 20years in Europe have seen large swings in real and financial markets, and sudden stops of capital flows have exposed the fault lines of the European financial architecture. While the pre-crisis financial architecture centered around mechanisms to contain borrowing by the public-sector, this paper argues that incentives for the private sector to engage in excessive borrowing had not been taken into account adequately. Macroprudential policy is a core element of the post-crisis reform agenda, and it plays a particularly important role in the European monetary union.