Monetary Regimes In Transition

This important contribution to comparative economic history examines different countries' experiences with different monetary regimes. The contributors lay particular emphasis on how the regimes fared when placed under stress such as wars and or other changes in the economic environment. Covering the experience of ten countries over the period 1700SH1990, the book employs the latest techniques of economic analysis in order to understand why particular monetary regimes and policies succeeded or failed.

Since beginning economic transition, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia have—with much success—employed diverse exchange rate regimes. As these countries approach EU accession, they will need to avoid the perils of too much or too little exchange rate variability when capital flows are likely to be large and volatile; narrow band arrangements in particular could be problematic. The exception is Estonia, where there are good arguments for retaining the currency board arrangement. Countries wishing to join the euro area at an early stage should not leave the removal of remaining capital controls to the last minute.

Some have argued that the only sustainable regimes are free floating and hard exchange rate commitments--essentially currency boards or monetary unions (Eichengreen, 1994, 1998; Obstfeld and Rogoff, 1995). For instance, Eichengreen (1994, pp. 4-5) says that ..". contingent policy rules to hit explicit exchange rate targets will no longer be viable in the twenty-first century ... Countries ... will be forced to choose between floating exchange rates on the one hand and monetary unification on the other." Similarly, Obstfeld and Rogoff (1995, pp. 74) state ..". there is little, if any, comfortable middle ground between floating rates and the adoption of a common currency." Hence, in the view of these authors, in the future we will see a disappearance of the middle ground that corresponds to soft commitments to some sort of intermediate exchange rate regime--adjustable pegs, crawling pegs, or bands, and perhaps also managed floating. This view is sometimes called the "two poles" or "hollowing out" (e.g., Eichengreen, 1994, pp. 6) theory of exchange rate regimes, and is based on the observation that higher capital mobility makes exchange rate commitments increasingly fragile. However, like the optimal currency area literature, which is essentially static, an explicit or implicit assumption is made that regimes are chosen to last forever, and from this perspective, one would only choose a regime that could be sustained once and for all. Only the hardest peg and the absence of any exchange rate commitment whatsoever are likely to qualify on that basis. Thus Eichengreen (1994, pp. 5), states "This will rule out the maintenance for extended periods of pegged but adjustable exchange rates, crawling pegs, and other regimes in which governments pre-announce limits on exchange rate fluctuations ..." (italics added).

This important volume collects, for the first time, key essays and papers on monetary regime transformations by economists, historians and political scientists alike. The inflation of the 1970s prompted considerable research by economists on monetary regimes and their transformation. However, empiricists who take seriously the notion that monetary regimes matter must necessarily examine long spans of data and, by implication, analyse historical experience. Empirical research on monetary regimes necessarily is historical research. The landmark volume - presenting as it does a careful selection of the most important historical essays - will be essential to an understanding of monetary regime transformations.

This book uses money as a lens through which to analyze the social and economic impact of colonialism on African societies and institutions. It is the first book to address the monetary history of the colonial period in a comprehensive way, covering several areas of the continent and different periods, with the ultimate aim of understanding the long-term impact of colonial monetary policies on African societies. While grounding an understanding of money in terms of its circulation, acceptance and impact, this book shows first and foremost how the monetary systems that resulted from the imposition of colonial rule on African societies were not a replacement of the old currency systems with entirely new ones, but were rather the result of the convergence of different orders of value and monetary practices. By putting histories of people using money at the heart of the story, and connecting them to larger imperial policies, the volume provides a new and fresh perspective on the history of the establishment of colonial rule in Africa. This book is the result of a collaborative and interdisciplinary research project that has received funding by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. The contributors are both junior and senior scholars, based at universities in Europe, Africa, Asia and the US, who are all specialists on the history of money in Africa. It will appeal to an international audience of scholars and educators interested in African Studies and History, Economic History, Imperial and Colonial History, Development Studies, Monetary Studies.

In post-independence sub-Saharan Africa, institutional arrangements for monetary policy have taken a variety of forms, although the historical evolution of many African financial systems has been similar. This paper identifies five different regimes and examines how they evolved over time. It focuses on how the alternative institutional arrangements have influenced the performance of monetary policy under fiscal pressure, and concludes that, although the trend appears to be toward more flexible regimes, the transition to greater flexibility can exacerbate problems of credibility and of macroeconomic management.