The second direction of the economic and market focus affects national economic regulation. With common monetary policy, economies are forced into harmonisation or driven to extremes. Irish economic overheating and the stagnant German economy are examples of the effects of being significantly different from the average. Both governments are working towards bringing their markets closer to that average. The complexity of this harmonisation should not be underestimated.
Economic management remains a national tool, but is aimed at a shared objective.
The closest analogy is of eleven people trying to drive to a place they've heard about by each controlling one aspect of the vehicle. Three hands on the steering wheel, two on the brakes and another four on the accelerator. Whether the commercial drivers can force through the necessary changes before the economic stresses exceed the management capabilities remains to be seen. The author is an independent management consultant. For more information on preparing for and coping with EMU, have a look at the website of Evergreen euro .