Synopses & Reviews
Over the twentieth century monetary theory played a crucial role in the evolution of the international monetary system. The severe shocks and monetary gyrations of the interwar years interacted with theoretical developments that superseded the rigid rules of commodity standards and led to the full-fledged conception of monetary policy. The definitive demise of the gold standard then paved the way for monetary reconstruction. Monetary theory was a decisive factor in the design of the reform proposals, in the Bretton Woods negotiations, and in forging the new monetary order. The Bretton Woods system - successful but nevertheless short-lived - suffered from latent inconsistencies, both analytical and institutional, which fatally undermined the foundations of the postwar monetary architecture and brought about the epochal transition from commodity money to fiat money.
Review
"In this remarkable synthesis of the history of economic thought and the history of the international monetary system, Ceserano tells how the world made the transition from the gold standard in 1914 to fiat money in 1971....Highly recommended." -- Choice
Review
"This is a timely thought-provoking account by a central banker (the head of the Historical Research Office of the Bank of Italy) of the long and often uncertain transition from the classical gold standard to the unprecendented fiat monetary system prevailing at the end of the twentieth century...I recommend it as an efficient account of the relevant theories and policies during the transition from the classical gold standard." - John H. Wood, Wake Forest University EH.NET
Review
"This book is an excellent description of the evolution of monetary theory and history and gives an excellent account of the interaction of theory and events over time."
Kristen Wandschneider, Journal of Economic History
Synopsis
This book argues that advances in monetary theory played a decisive role in the Bretton Woods Agreements of July 1944.
Synopsis
The momentous transformations of the international monetary system after World War I culminated in the epochal transition from gold-based money to inconvertible paper money half century later. This book argues that advances in monetary theory played a decisive role in these major events and, particularly, in the Bretton Woods Agreements of July 1944.
About the Author
Filippo Cesarano is the head of the Historical Research Office of the Bank of Italy. He studied at the University of Rome and the University of Chicago and has been a Research Fellow at the Netherlands School of Economics and a visiting scholar at UCLA, Harvard, and the Hoover Institution. As an economist at the Research Department of the Bank of Italy, he has worked in the fields of monetary theory, international economics, and the history of economic analysis. He has published articles in the American Economic Review, History of Political Economy, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and the Journal of International Economics, among others.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction; 2. International monetary equilibrium and the properties of the gold standard; 3. The international monetary system between the world wars; 4. The monetary system in economic analysis: the critique of the gold standard; 5. The Great Depression: overturning the state of the art; 6. Providing for a new monetary order; 7. The Bretton Woods Agreements; 8. Bretton Woods and after.