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Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System

Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The importance of the international monetary system is clearly evident in daily news stories about fluctuating currencies and in dramatic events such as the recent reversals in the Mexican economy. It has become increasingly apparent that one cannot understand the international economy without knowing how its monetary system operates. Now Barry Eichengreen presents a brief, lucid book that tells the story of the international financial system over the past 150 years. Globalizing Capital is intended not only for economists but also for a general audience of historians, political scientists, professionals in government and business, and anyone with a broad interest in international economic and political relations. Eichengreen's work demonstrates that insights into the international monetary system and effective principles for governing it can result only if it is seen a historical phenomenon extending from the gold standard period to interwar instability, then to Bretton Woods, and finally to the post-1973 period of fluctuating currencies.

Eichengreen analyzes the shift from pegged to floating exchange rates in the 1970s and ascribes that change to the growing capital mobility that has made pegged rates difficult to maintain. However, he shows that capital mobility was also high prior to World War I, yet this did not prevent the maintenance of fixed exchange rates. What was critical for the successful maintenance of fixed exchange rates during that period was the fact that governments were relatively insulated from democratic politics and thus from pressure to trade off exchange rate stability for other goals, such as the reduction of unemployment. Today pegging exchange rates would require very radical reforms of a sort that governments are understandably reluctant to embrace. The implication seems undeniable: floating rates are here to stay.

Synopsis:

Barry Eichengreen presents a brief, lucid book that tells the story of the international financial system over the past 150 years. Globalizing Capital is intended not only for economists but also for a general audience of historians, political scientists, professionals in government and business, and anyone with a broad interest in international economic and political relations. Eichengreen's work demonstrates that insights into the international monetary system and effective principles for governing it can result only if it is seen as a historical phenomenon extending from the gold standard period to the interwar period, then to Bretton Woods, and finally to the post-1973 period of fluctuating currencies.

Synopsis:

"Eichengreen's purpose is to provide a brief history of the international monetary system. In this, he succeeds magnificently. "Globalizing Capital" will become a classic."--Douglas Irwin, author of "Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade"

Table of Contents

Preface
Ch. 1Introduction3
Ch. 2The Gold Standard7
Prehistory8
The Dilemmas of Bimetallism9
The Lure of Bimetallism13
The Advent of the Gold Standard15
Shades of Gold20
How the Gold Standard Worked25
The Gold Standard as a Historically Specific Institution30
International Solidarity32
The Gold Standard and the Lender of Last Resort35
Instability at the Periphery38
The Stability of the System42
Ch. 3Interwar Instability45
Chronology46
Experience with Floating: The Controversial Case of the Franc51
Reconstructing the Gold Standard57
The New Gold Standard61
Problems of the New Gold Standard63
The Pattern of International Payments68
Responses to the Great Depression72
Banking Crises and Their Management75
Disintegration of the Gold Standard77
Sterling's Crisis80
The Dollar Follows85
Managed Floating88
Conclusions91
Ch. 4The Bretton Woods System93
Wartime Planning and Its Consequences96
The Sterling Crisis and the Realignment of European Currencies102
The European Payments Union106
Payments Problems and Selective Controls109
Convertibility: Problems and Progress113
Special Drawing Rights117
Declining Controls and Rising Rigidity120
The Battle for Sterling125
The Crisis of the Dollar128
Ch. 5From Floating to Monetary Unification136
Floating Exchange Rates in the 1970s139
Floating Exchange Rates in the 1980s145
The Snake152
The European Monetary System160
Renewed Impetus for Integration167
The EMS Crisis171
Understanding the Crisis175
The Experience of Developing Countries181
The Asian Crisis186
Conclusions191
Ch. 6Conclusion192
Glossary197
References205
Index221

Product Details

ISBN:
9780691002453
Subtitle:
A History of the International Monetary System
Author:
Eichengreen, Barry
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
Location:
Princeton U Pr, 1998.
Subject:
Money & Monetary Policy
Subject:
Economics - International
Subject:
Economic History
Subject:
International economic integration
Subject:
International - Economics
Subject:
Economics
Subject:
Political Science and International Relations
Subject:
Finance
Copyright:
Edition Number:
New ed.
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
July 1998
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
College/higher education:
Language:
English
Illustrations:
25 line drawings 6 tables
Pages:
240
Dimensions:
9 x 6 in 12 oz

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