Professor Hughes-Hallett said, "In this talk I shall review the conditions under which it would be both advantageous and appropriate to adopt a single currency in several different economies. This framework will show why it is quite logical that some countries would adopt a very different approach and attitude to the Euro while continuing to trade in the same markets.

Then we can look at Britain's particular case with respect to flexible exchange rates and inflation targeting, or exchange rate targets themselves, or fixing via a currency board, or monetary union via the Euro. Here the issues are, how important are the gains from having a common currency; how are individual economies supposed to adjust under that regime; why market flexibility is a crucial issue; the importance of the distinction between a single market and a single currency; and what happens if your trading partners and your investment partners are different sets of people with different interests."

Professor Brian Main, Director of The David Hume Institute said "It is hoped that this seminar will provide a platform for open and informed discussion concerning Economic and Monetary Union, the alternatives and the longer-term implications."

Andrew Hughes-Hallett is Professor of Macroeconomics at Strathclyde University. He is a graduate of Warwick University and the London School of Economics and holds a PhD from Oxford University. He was Visiting Professor in the Economics Department in Princeton University and held a Fulbright Scholarship from 1992-94. He has also held visiting appointments at the Universities of Oxford and Rome. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London, and an Editor of the Scottish Journal of Political Economy. Previously he held appointments at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Erasmus University (Rotterdam), Bristol University and Warwick University.

His main research interests are in the fields of international economic policy, economic and monetary integration, game theory and policy co-ordination, the theory of economic policy, and econometric modelling. Current research projects include: economic policy in an integrated Europe; inflation; unemployment and the role of fiscal policy in a monetary union; exchange rate regimes; issues in stabilising commodity and financial markets; and strategic trade policy.

His work in these and related areas has been published in 190 papers in the leading academic journals or books; 6 books; and in 12 government or agency reports. He has also acted as consultant to the World Bank, IMF and the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, to the UN and UNESCO, to the OECD, to the European Commission, and to various national governments and private sector firms.

Notes to Editors:

The views that will be expressed by the speaker are his own and do not commit the Trustees or Officers of the Institute in any way.