02137cas a2200277 a 4500 AALejournalIMF018213 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781484338490 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Franks, Jeffrey. Economic Convergence in the Euro Area : Coming Together or Drifting Apart? / Jeffrey Franks, Bergljot Barkbu, Rodolphe Blavy, William Oman. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2018. 1 online resource (47 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students We examine economic convergence among euro area countries on multiple dimensions. While there was nominal convergence of inflation and interest rates, real convergence of per capita income levels has not occurred among the original euro area members since the advent of the common currency. Income convergence stagnated in the early years of the common currency and has reversed in the wake of the global economic crisis. New euro area members, in contrast, have seen real income convergence. Business cycles became more synchronized, but the amplitude of those cycles diverged. Financial cycles showed a similar pattern: sychronizing more over time, but with divergent amplitudes. Income convergence requires reforms boosting productivity growth in lagging countries, while cyclical and financial convergence can be enhanced by measures to improve national and euro area fiscal policies, together with steps to deepen the single market. Mode of access: Internet Barkbu, Bergljot. Blavy, Rodolphe. Oman, William. IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2018/010 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2018/010/001.2018.issue-010-en.xml IMF e-Library