Jonathon Moses' Eurobondage: 'political economy at its most illuminating, relevant and accessible'

In his persuasive new book Eurobondage: The Political Costs of Monetary Union in Europe, author Jonathon Moses examines how the monetary policies of Iceland, Latvia, Hungary and Ireland responded to the financial crisis.

Contrary to popular perception, he finds that the monetary autonomy of small non-eurozone states (Iceland, Hungary) helped prioritise the needs of domestic constituents over those of international markets.

Eurozone members Latvia and Ireland, by contrast, prioritised the long-term needs of international lenders and European institutions, at the short-term expense of their own citizens.

Showing clearly how monetary policy autonomy still helps cushion economic shocks, Eurobondage documents the major sacrifices that eurozone states have made in joining a suboptimum currency area.

These are the political costs of monetary union in Europe.

Praise for Eurobondage

‘...a pristine example of political economy at its most illuminating, relevant and accessible... Moses persuasively shows how domestic control over monetary policy is essential not only for national sovereignty in the management of the domestic economy, and for generating better performance in economic growth and unemployment, but also for allowing voice for citizens in the face of the regressive distributive consequences of the inflation‑obsessed Eurozone austerity regime.’ — Michael Alvarez, University of Bergen

‘Jonathon Moses offers us qualitative insights into four European states... and demonstrates through a rigorous comparative study how the capacity to adopt a flexible currency policy is feasible; and that there is greater freedom of mobility in monetary policies than has previously been argued.’ — Christine Ingebritsen, University of Washington

‘Participation in Europe constrains national policy autonomy and so limits options for crisis response... Moses focuses his criticism on the euro but the implications are much wider. The ensemble of cases makes for essential reading. Pro-Europeans may not like this argument, but they will have to engage with it.’ — Erik Jones, Johns Hopkins University

Keywords: Comparative Politics, Democracy, European Union, Political Economy