Currency Areas: Inflation and Unemployment

Can inflation and unemployment tell us something about optimal or not optimal currency areas? In this paper we compare the behavior of these variables in two countries, Mexico and the United States of America (USA), along with the member countries of the Euro Zone (European Monetary Union, or EMU). The main purpose is to know the divergence within each between average inflation -0% in the graphs- and the main cities or regions in the first two, and the countries of the EMU. The period of 2001-2012 is chosen to be the years in which the Euro has been circulating among member countries of the Monetary Union (EMU).