Asymmetries, Imbalances, and Fragmentation in the Eurozone

The euro area's imbalances are built into its infrastructure. This project traces them to the plumbing -- CCPs, CSDs, the ECB and the national central banks -- and to the link between monetary integration and the financialisation of the member economies. Three empirical pillars, built on official datasets that are largely unused.

Three pillars

1 · Monetary hierarchies in the EMU

Jurisdictions are tiered and legacy euros persist. TARGET is the backstop that holds the tiering together.

2 · Fragmentation and selective integration

Money markets fragment even with liquidity in excess. The shortage that binds is collateral.

3 · Capital and liquidity in hybrid refinancing

Where TARGET balances actually come from, and how the hybrid working of the mechanism produces them.

Related: Subordination · Balance-Sheet Modelling · GEGI Study