  Based on chiral ring relations and anomalies, as described by Cachazo,
Douglas, Seiberg and Witten, we argue that the holomorphic effective action in
N=2 Yang-Mills theory can be understood as an integrated U(1) anomaly from a
purely field theory point of view. In particular, we show that the periods of
the Riemann surface arising from the generalized Konishi anomaly can be given a
physical interpretation without referring to special geometry. We also discuss
consequences for the multi-instanton calculus in N=2 Yang-Mills theory.
