Synopses & Reviews
This volume is intended to provide a survey of thought about exchange-rate determination as it emerged in the decade of the 1970s. This survey differs from many, however, in that the field itself is in a state of rapid change. Understanding the changes and the reasons for them is therefore essential if the reader is to have a basis for understanding future advances in knowledge and the further evolution of the system. The survey is also intended to reach non-specialist professional economists whose balance-of-payments theory was learned before the 1970s, as well as to provide graduate students and advanced undergraduates with an up-to-date account of the field. In most respects, the theory of exchange-rate determination is based upon an analytical structure equivalent to that analyzing the determinants of the balance of payments under fixed exchange rates. The difference is that the shifts in excess demand for foreign exchange lead to quantity adjustments under fixed rates and price adjustment under flexible rates. Thus, attention turns first to exchange-rate, or balance-of-payments, determination. Thereafter formal analyses of differences and similarities between the functioning of the alternative systems are considered, reflecting the focus of the profession and the mainstream of research of this period.
Synopsis
The behavior of the international monetary system and the evolution of economists' ideas about it in the postwar period make a fascinating case study. This volume provides a survey of thought in this field as it emerged during the 1970s.
Table of Contents
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. The field, the questions, and the concepts; 3. Models of the current account; 4. Models of the capital account; 5. Interactions between current account and capital account; 6. Alternative exchange-rate systems; 7. Policy effects under differing macroeconomic specifications; 8. Payments regimes and developing countries; References; Subject index; Author index.