Abstract:
In this paper we analyze European business cycles before and under EMU. Across the two periods we ?nd 1) a signi?cant decline in real exchange rate volatility, 2) signi?cant changes in cross-country correlations, and 3) the volatility of macroeconomic fundamentals largely un- changed. We develop a two-country business cycle model and show that the calibrated model is able to replicate key features of the data prior to and under EMU.We ?nd that the euro has a strong bearing on the transmission mechanism as cross-country spillovers increase substantially under EMU. As a result, foreign shocks become more and domestic shocks less important in accounting for the (unchanged) volatility of macroeconomic fundamentals.