This course will examine causes, development and consequences of the Euro-crises that punctuated the last fifteen years. The main focus will be on the (financial and) sovereign debt crises and the policy response, but the Covid-19 crisis will be also examined in comparative perspective. The study of the crises and understanding the reactions at the national and EU level is paramount to fully grasp current events and future perspectives on Europe. Through a deep understanding of the European political economy of the last fifteen years, students will develop the capacity to independently examine European contemporary issues. Theoretical tools from Economics and Political science will be employed together with a deep examination of empirical events and data in order to equip the students with the full array of critical material necessary to develop competences and skills in European political economy.

-

Topics include: The construction of the Eurozone and its economic results; fiscal profligacy and the building of fragile public accounts; the financial and economic crisis: the great recession. Trade and competitiveness in the Eurozone; banking and credit problems; the balance of payment crisis and target balances. Current accounts and capital movements; France and Germany; the institutional change – ESM and OMT; banking union; the future of the Eurosystem. The creation of the Euro; the origins of the crisis; Greece and the beginning of the debt crisis; Ireland and the banking crash; the beginning of austerity. Draghi’s Whatever it takes; it’s not the fault of the Euro: it’s the policy that matters; what we learn from the policy reaction to the crisis; how to restore economic growth; a “new deal” for the Euro? Understanding legitimacy during the Eurocrisis; input and output legitimacy; the European Council; the European Central Bank. The European Commission and the European Parliament during the crisis; the effectiveness of EU policies; National vs EU policies; perspectives on EU legitimacy. Capitalism and democracy in Europe; growth and inequality; political institutions, markets and society. America and the roots of Trumpism; the paradox of Brexit: crisis in a non-Euro country. The new North-South divide in Europe; crisis and its aftermath in Spain and Italy. The concept of anti-system politics. The COVID-19: monetary response; the fiscal response: suspending the rules and the EU stimulus; the mutualization of debt; response to Covid in (EU) comparative perspective.

Sinn, H. W. (2014), The Euro Trap: On Bursting Bubbles, Budgets, and Beliefs, Oxford University Press Sandbu, Martin (2017), Europe's Orphan: The Future of the Euro and the Politics of Debt, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford Schmidt, Vivien A. (2020), Europe’s Crisis of Legitimacy. Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers in the Eurozone. Oxford University Press Hopkin, Jonathan (2020), Anti-System Politics. The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies, Oxford University Press Special Issue on Covid Response: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN PUBLIC POLICY 2023, VOL. 30, NO. 4

The course will have one lecture and one seminar per week. Before the seminar, students will have to submit a one-page “Reading” report each week on one book chapter of their choice from the required readings. The reading report will be written on a blueprint given at the beginning of the course. During the first week students will choose the title for their final essay. The same title will be the topic of their presentation during seminars. Seminars will discuss the week’s material through the students’ presentation and the responses to the Reading report. The Final Essay will be submitted by email one week after the end of the course.

Accuracy of the reading reports will count 10% of the final mark. The final essay will count for 60% of the final mark. The final exam will be formed by open-ended questions and will count for 30% of the final mark. Students that do not attend will take a longer final exam that will count for 100% of the mark.

Students that wish to be supervised for their "tesi di laurea", i.e. final dissertation, must ask me in class for the eligibility criteria.