We’ll discuss origins and policy options for the crises in Europe and the US. Thenwe’ll discuss whether economics, economists, or certain kinds of economics, are partof the problem or part of the solution.The monetarist view of the foundations of EMU􀂃 A determined central bank can always control inflation by controlling moneygrowth.􀂃 Fiscal-monetary interaction consists of attempts by the fiscal authorities to get thecentral bank to buy more government debt than is consistent with stable inflation,and is inherently bad.􀂃 An institutional design with a single, large central bank and a fractured fiscalauthority of many smaller treasuries is therefore less likely to be subject toinflationary pressure from the fiscal side than is the usual single-countryfiscal-monetary pair of institutions.