Franco Modigliani e l’Unione Monetaria Europea

This essay examines Franco Modigliani's contribution to the debate on European monetary integration, from the seventies to the early 2000s as emerging from his articles published mainly on the newspapers of the time and on professional journals. From the debate around the European monetary system to the creation of the single currency, Modigliani generally stood for the integration process and sought to encourage Italian politicians to engage in macroeconomic stabilization processes and to take an active part in the formulation and management of European agreements. At the same time, Modigliani criticized the overly rigid approaches supported by other European countries, in particular Germany, in defining the Maastricht parameters, in the conception of fiscal policy, and in the statutory objectives and regulation of the European Central Bank. Overall, Modigliani sought to promote greater flexibility and cooperation within the European architecture that enabled it to respond to citizens’ expectations and to foster not only monetary stability, but also employment and economic growth.