New Approaches To Monetary Theory

Everybody uses money every day, but we rarely stop to think about how money works. In this book, scholars from different disciplines seek to answer that question; from historians to economists, sociologists, a philosopher and a physicist. Money works as a social construction because we have mutual expectations that support its use – despite the seeming irrationality of trading valuable things or doing strenuous work for pieces of paper or numbers in accounts. Recently, there has been a revival of interest in monetary theory, not least because the impacts of globalizing markets and of new communication and information technologies have changed the forms of money. The deep crisis of the financial system has demonstrated the importance of a functioning monetary system and although renewed interest in this has led to significant contributions in various fields, it remains true that no social science discipline on its own is sufficiently equipped to explain the basic workings of monetary systems, their rapid innovation and their effects on social, economic and political structures. The contributors to this book report on their latest research on the origins of money, on the nature of monetary transactions, on money and the state, and on the role of money and finance in the recent global crisis. They show how established theories of money and the policies guided by these theories went wrong. This collection will be a valuable resource for students and researchers seeking a deeper understanding of money.

An overview of recent theoretical and policy-related developments in monetary economics.

This book provides the grounding for a new approach to monetary economics, based on the book-keeping nature of money. The main themes of macroeconomics are examined to show how we may improve our understanding through a thorough analysis of their monetary aspects. Money is the key element and its role is investigated in relation to value, prices, profits, capital and interest. Alvaro Cencini's analysis rejects the traditional, net asset definition of money, arguing that despite appearances to the contrary, money is issued by banks as a mere numerical form. It is through its association with production that it is given its positive value, purchasing power. The resulting theory elicits a new understanding of the conditions behind today's monetary disorders and prescribes new remedies to cure them once and for all.

New Approaches to Monetary Economics brings together presentations of innovative research in the field of monetary economics. Much of this research develops and applies approaches to modelling financial intermediation, aggregate fluctuations, monetary aggregation and transactions-motivated monetary equilibrium. The contents of this volume comprise the proceedings of the second in a conference series entitled International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics. This conference was held in 1985 at the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. The symposia in this series are sponsored by the IC2 Institute and the RGK Foundation. New Approaches to Monetary Economics, edited by Professors William A. Barnett and Kenneth J. Singleton, consists of five parts. Part I examines transactions-motivated monetary holding in general equilibrium; Part II, financial intermediation; Part III, monetary aggregation theory, Part IV, issues in aggregate fluctuation; and Part V, theoretical issues in the foundations of monetary economics and macroeconomics.

This book sheds light on some of the most recent developments in monetary analysis which offer a theoretical framework for a renewed monetary approach and related policy extensions. It points to recent research on what a consistent and broad-scope monetary theory could be based in the twenty-first century. It highlights new interpretations of monetary theory as put forth by some leading economists since the eighteenth century and new developments in the analysis of current monetary issues.

These new essays cover aspects of monetary theory as well as monetary policy, the prime objective being the development of intellectual tools in order to find new ways of thinking to existing and new monetary problems in an increasingly unstable world economy marked by rapid and often unexpected changes, partly caused by the disappearance of boundaries for financial transactions. By challenging the orthodox paradigms in monetary economics and generating controversy, the volume will be an essential reference point for economists, central and commercial bankers, businessmen and politicians.

The new edition of a comprehensive treatment of monetary economics, including the first extensive coverage of the effective lower bound on nominal interest rates. This textbook presents a comprehensive treatment of the most important topics in monetary economics, focusing on the primary models monetary economists have employed to address topics in theory and policy. Striking a balance of insight, accessibility, and rigor, the book covers the basic theoretical approaches, shows how to do simulation work with the models, and discusses the full range of frictions that economists have studied to understand the impacts of monetary policy. For the fourth edition, every chapter has been revised to improve the exposition and to reflect recent research. The new edition offers an entirely new chapter on the effective lower bound on nominal interest rates, forward guidance policies, and quantitative and credit easing policies. Material on the basic new Keynesian model has been reorganized into a single chapter to provide a comprehensive analysis of the model and its policy implications. In addition, the chapter on the open economy now reflects the dominance of the new Keynesian approach. Other new material includes discussions of price adjustment, labor market frictions and unemployment, and moral hazard frictions among financial intermediaries. References and end-of-chapter problems allow readers to extend their knowledge of the topics covered. Monetary Theory and Policy continues to be the most comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of monetary economics, not only the leading text in the field but also the standard reference for academics and central bank researchers.

A new edition of the leading text in monetary economics, a comprehensive treatment revised and enhanced with new material reflecting recent advances in the field. This text presents a comprehensive treatment of the most important topics in monetary economics, focusing on the primary models monetary economists have employed to address topics in theory and policy. It covers the basic theoretical approaches, shows how to do simulation work with the models, and discusses the full range of frictions that economists have studied to understand the impacts of monetary policy. Among the topics presented are money-in-the-utility function, cash-in-advance, and search models of money; informational, portfolio, and nominal rigidities; credit frictions; the open economy; and issues of monetary policy, including discretion and commitment, policy analysis in new Keynesian models, and monetary operating procedures. The use of models based on dynamic optimization and nominal rigidities in consistent general equilibrium frameworks, relatively new when introduced to students in the first edition of this popular text, has since become the method of choice of monetary policy analysis. This third edition reflects the latest advances in the field, incorporating new or expanded material on such topics as monetary search equilibria, sticky information, adaptive learning, state-contingent pricing models, and channel systems for implementing monetary policy. Much of the material on policy analysis has been reorganized to reflect the dominance of the new Keynesian approach. Monetary Theory and Policy continues to be the only comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of monetary economics, not only the leading text in the field but also the standard reference for academics and central bank researchers.