A History Of The Canadian Dollar

Trading at a premium to the U.S. dollar in the early 1970s, it was not until the Bretton Woods system of pegged exchange rates collapsed under the strains of the Viet Nam war in 1972, that brought a sudden state of chaos to the historical relationship between the two North American dollars. As a series of Free Trade Agreements negotiated in the 1990s raised Canada's dependence on one of the largest free markets in the world, the Canadian dollar appeared increasingly vulnerable to Canadian industrial and trade policy. As one of the world's oldest currencies challenges its all-time historical lows, a vital debate rages over the benefits of having just one major currency spanning both the U.S. and Canada. This book presents a concise "living history" of the economic and financial life of Canada during one of the most revolutionary decades in modem memory (1990-2000).

"Eric Helleiner provides a detailed exploration of the politics underlying Canada's recent debate over the merits of monetary union with the United States. Comparing the US Federal Reserve and the European Monetary Union, he argues that Canada would exercise far less influence within a North American monetary union than individual countries do within the European community. He also analyses the seemingly paradoxical support of Quebec sovereignists for free trade and monetary union." --Résumé de l'éditeur.

The first provides a brief overview of the modern history of the Canadian dollar up to the beginning of the current period of appreciation. [...] HISTORY OF THE VALUE OF THE CANADIAN DOLLAR The modern era of the Canadian dollar - when market forces of supply and demand determined its value - began in 1950 with the decision to remove all exchange rate controls and "float" the currency on international markets. [...] FACTORS AFFECTING THE EXCHANGE RATE Like any other traded good, the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar - or to any other currency, for that matter - is determined by the interaction of the forces of supply and demand. [...] Similarly, since the United States is by far the largest economy in the world, economic strength in the United States plays a large role in determining the health of the global economy. [...] For example, the threat of Quebec secession in the early to mid-1990s, and the uncertainty created by the 1995 referendum, were believed to have had a dampening effect on the value of the Canadian dollar.

Canadian Working Class History: Selected Readings, Third Edition, is an updated version of the bestselling reader that brings together recent and classic scholarship on the history, politics, and social groups of the working class in Canada. Some of the changes readers will find in the new edition include: better representation of women scholars, and nine provocative and ground-breaking new articles on racism and human rights, women's equality; gender history, Quebec sovereignty; and the environment.

Originally published in the Bank of Canada Review, these articles are valuable for anyone interested in the history, evolution and rationale of central banks, and the Bank of Canada in particular. Articles are in English and French.

This interpretation of the Canadian experience extends the monetary approach to balance-of-payments adjustment that realizes the full implications of international capital mobility.