Dermot Hodson has a BA in Economics and Philosophy from Trinity College, Dublin, an MSc in European Economic Studies from the College of Europe, Bruges and a PhD in European Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He previously worked as an economist at the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, where he worked on issues relating to Economic and Monetary Union and the governance of the euro area. He has taught at the London School of Economics, London South Bank University and London Metropolitan University. He is Lecturer in Political Economy, Birkbeck College, University of London.

"Hodson's greatest skill is not merely his capacity to explore the dilemmas of centralized versus decentralized policy-making or of informal versus formal styles of decision-making, but rather to illuminate and articulate the complex history of the EU's experiment with the Euro and economic governance with a lucidity of thought and a clarity of voice that demands that the reader sit up and listen to one of the outstanding commentators on Europe's political economy."--Kenneth Armstrong, Professor in European Union Law, School of Law, Queen Mary, University of London

"Dermot Hodson has provided a sophisticated and timely study of the governance of the Euro Area as a distinctive exercise in European integration. At a time when this new experiment is faced with a major economic and financial crisis he unravels in a masterful way the highly complex decision processes and assesses them in relation to current and emerging challenges. The book is essential reading for students of European integration."--Kenneth Dyson, Research Professor, School of European Studies, Cardiff University

"This fine-grained analysis of economic governance in the EU provides nuanced insights into the challenges facing the eurozone and its members. The study also sheds light on wider issues about the alternatives to the traditional Community method of decision-making."--Helen Wallace, Professor Emeritus, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science