Introduction:

The most successful talks are those specifically tailored to a particular audience. Nonetheless, in academia we tend to make a virtue of the vice of repeating in different venues the same talk, with only small variations.

This particular presentation proved to be a challenge due to the diverse nature of the audience. The wide variety of expertise represented (hopefully) in the audience made that tailoring very difficult -if not impossible.

I have tried to make this presentation as informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking as possible. My goal is to use the next half an hour to:

• describe the logistics of introducing the Euro as the new common currency of the European Monetary Union.
  
• briefly explore the economic implications of a single currency in Europe, whether it succeeds or fails.
  
• address as many questions on this issue as possible, either directly or by referral to the appropriate sources.

It is always good to start a talk with a joke so I think I was very lucky when I found this cartoon in the Wall Street Journal. It is most appropriate for the purpose of this presentation because it captures one of the main points that I am going to address: one of the benefits from the Euro is the reduction in transaction costs within the European Monetary Union.

Wall Street Journal, September 25th, 2001 

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