Actual wages typically exceed collectively set standard wages. Standard wages are, therefore, not binding, yet they seem to influence actual wages strongly. An explanation for this phenomenon is offered along the lines of the Fair Wage/Effort Hypothesis proposed by G. Akerlof and J. Yellen...

This note, published in 1995, assesses the problems that might be entailed by the introduction of the European monetary union. It is argued that wage pressure will not be diminished by forming the union, and the stagflation problem that lies at the root of the rising trend in unemployment will...