The course investigates the changing nature of the Eurozone, focusing on banking and monetary policy in the wider context of globalisation and from a long-term perspective. Topics include ; why the euro was created; how the European Central Bank and the Eurosystem function; macroeconomic coordination; fiscal integration; capital markets integration; banking regulation and supervision and contemporary challenges.

Six 3-hour sessions, each including a one-hour lecture and 2 hours of seminar/class discussion.

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An individual 2,500 word written essay will account for 100% of the assessment.

This course aims to develop students' knowledge of the Eurozone, focusing in particular on monetary policy and banking from a long-term perspective. It also aims to outline the economic and historical contexts in which the euro was created. The course aims to explore the causes and consequences of the design failures of the Eurozone and present the political, economic and financial implications of the creation of the euro and introduce the challenges of the Eurozone in a globalised world.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ describe and critically assess the various aspects of the Eurozone's monetary policy making and banking challenges

■ evaluate the respective roles of the EU's institutions and member states in shaping the Eurozone's political economy

■ critically evaluate primary source material, in particular statistical data sets and archival sources, so as to form reasoned conclusions based on evidence

■ reconstruct the process by which events have unfolded, highlighting contingent historical occurrences and structural forces at play

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.