%0 Journal Article %J International Organization %D 1998 %T Mixed Signals: Central Bank Independence, CoordinatedWage Bargaining, and European Monetary Union %A Peter A. Hall %A Robert J. Franzese %X The nations of the European Union (EU) are taking a major step toward greater economic and political integration by creating a monetary union to be administered by a European central bank that is formally independent of political control. There is broad consensus among the governing elites of Europe, informed by an extensive literature in economics, that the independence of the new central bank will confer important economic advantages on the new European Monetary Union (EMU) as one unintentional publication concluded, ''The argument for central bank independence. . . appears overwhelming.'' %B International Organization %V 52 %P 505-535 %G eng %N 3