Alison Johnston, assistant professor of political science at Oregon State University, has just published her new book “From Convergence to Crisis: Labor Markets and the Instability of the Euro.” Professor Johnston is a graduate of UW’s Department of Economics, Department of Scandinavian Studies, and the Jackson School of International Studies where she earned bachelors degrees in economics, European studies, and Swedish studies.

“From Convergence to Crisis focuses on labor markets in a narrative that distinguishes the winners from the losers in the euro crisis. Alison Johnston argues that Europe’s monetary union was structured in a way that advantaged the corporatist labor markets of its northern economies in external trade and financial lending. Northern Europe’s distinct economic advantage lay not with its fiscal capabilities, which were not that different from those of southern Eurozone countries, but with its wage-setting institutions.”