Synopses & Reviews
This volume brings together a distinguished group of contributors from European universities and research institutes as well as U.S. finance and economic institutes to examine a broad range of issues related to the current and future roles of international and European monetary systems. Among the topics covered are the relationship of each system to the U.S. dollar and its fluctuations vis-a-vis the Japanese Yen and German Deutschmark; the effect of fiscal policies on monetary systems; the role of the European currency unit; exchange rate management and international coordination; the theory behind, and policy implications of, over- and undervalued currencies; and the prospects for future currency unification and currency competition. Students of international finance and trade, international economics, and monetary theory will find this an important contribution to debates over international monetary policy.
Divided into two major sections, which address the international and European systems respectively, the book begins with three chapters that examine the exchange rate system of a managed float with respect to the dollar. The fundamental question addressed by the authors is whether this system, which has predominated in the last decade, has contributed to increasingly unstable real exchange rates. The following two chapters examine the role of the IMF's special drawing right and the appropriate exchange rate regime for developing countries. The remaining chapters focus on the European Monetary System, and explore such issues as the convergence of monetary and fiscal policies within the European Monetary System and the role of the private European Currency Unit. A bibliography is included for those who wish to pursue further research on these topics.
Synopsis
This volume brings together a distinguished group of contributors from Europe and the United States to examine a broad range of issues relating to the current and future roles of the international and European monetary systems. Among the topics covered are the relationship of each system to the U.S. dollar and its fluctuations vis-a-vis the Japanese Yen and German Deutschmark; the effect of fiscal policies on monetary systems; the role of the European currency unit; exchange rate management and international coordination; the theory behind, and policy implications of, over- and undervalued currencies; and the prospects for future currency unification and currency competition.
About the Author
EMIL-MARIA CLAASSEN is Professor of Monetary Economics and International Economics at the University of Paris, Dauphine, and has held academic positions at the European University Institute, Florence, and at several other universities in Europe and the United States.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The International Monetary System
Target Zones and Monetary Stability
Over- and Undervalued Currencies: Theory, Measurement, and Policy Implications
Exchange Rate Management and International Coordination
The Role of the SDRs in the International Monetary System
Exchange Rate Regimes for LDCs
The European Monetary System
PPP and the Peso Problem: Exchange Rates in the EMS
Fiscal Policies in the EMS--A Strategic Analysis
Causes of the Development of the Private ECU and the Behavior of its Interest Rates
Currency Unification, Currency Competition, and the Private ECU: Second Thoughts
Bibliography
Indexes