The Political Economy Of A Common Currency

The politics surrounding exchange rate policies in the global economy The exchange rate is the most important price in any economy, since it affects all other prices. Exchange rates are set, either directly or indirectly, by government policy. Exchange rates are also central to the global economy, for they profoundly influence all international economic activity. Despite the critical role of exchange rate policy, there are few definitive explanations of why governments choose the currency policies they do. Filled with in-depth cases and examples, Currency Politics presents a comprehensive analysis of the politics surrounding exchange rates. Identifying the motivations for currency policy preferences on the part of industries seeking to influence politicians, Jeffry Frieden shows how each industry's characteristics—including its exposure to currency risk and the price effects of exchange rate movements—determine those preferences. Frieden evaluates the accuracy of his theoretical arguments in a variety of historical and geographical settings: he looks at the politics of the gold standard, particularly in the United States, and he examines the political economy of European monetary integration. He also analyzes the politics of Latin American currency policy over the past forty years, and focuses on the daunting currency crises that have frequently debilitated Latin American nations, including Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. With an ambitious mix of narrative and statistical investigation, Currency Politics clarifies the political and economic determinants of exchange rate policies.

This book proposes a new way of thinking about the Eurozone, exploring the overlap between its economic and political interdependencies.

In this title, David Stasavage explores several alternative political economy explanations for the persistence of the Franc Zone and its macroeconomic management over the period 1945 to 2000. He addresses the issue of sustainability and asks why the Franc Zone has survived despite several major political and economic shocks that might have easily led to its dissolution. These include decolonisation, France's entry into the European Community and the growing marginalisation of Africa in world affairs. He also considers the issue of credibility and in particular the extent to which the Franc Zone arrangements commit member states to prudent macroeconomic policies.

This book places the whole issue of monetary union in its wider political economic context. The authors discuss: * the effect of EMU on fiscal and monetary policies * Central bank independence * the impact of EMU on unemployment * ERM II * international perspectives. Drawing on their experience in the European financial markets, the authors use a non-technical approach to discuss these issues - both in a general european sense and more specifically, Germany, the UK and Italy.

The first edition of this book was published in 1994, as the future of monetary unification in Europe was very much in doubt. With Economic and Monetary Union now in place, it is appropriate to bring the scholarship on the topic up to date for the students of international political economics. To this effect, essayists Jeffry Frieden, Geoffrey Garrett, Lisa L. Martin, Benjamin J. Cohen revised four of the original chapters to reflect new conditions. Editors, Barry Eichengreen and Frieden completely rewrote the introductory essay. Three new chapters by Matthew Gabel, Charles Engel, and Paul De Grauwe et al cover public support for EMU, local currency pricing, and whether Europe is now better off? The updated volume's purpose remains that of bringing the latest in scholarship in Economics and Political Science to bear on the European monetary integration

This collection brings together both classic articles which have laid the foundations for the theory of optimum currency and the resulting empirical literature. Articles are presented in sections on the theory of optimum currency areas, empirical analysis of optimum currency areas, fiscal policies in a monetary union, the central bank in a monetary union, and issues of transition to monetary union. Most articles were originally published in the 1990s. The editor teaches international economics at the University of Leuven, Belgium. c. Book News Inc.

Creating the European monetary union between diverse and unequal nation states is arguably one of the biggest social experiments in history. This book offers an explanation of how the euro experiment came about and was sustained despite a severe crisis, and provides a comparison with the monetary-financial history of the US. The euro experiment can be understood as risk-sharing through a currency that is issued by a supranational central bank. A single currency shares liquidity risks by creating larger markets for all financial assets. A single monetary policy responds to business cycles in the currency area as a whole rather than managing the path of one dominant economy. Mechanisms of risk-sharing become institutions of monetary solidarity if they are consciously maintained, but they will periodically face opposition in member states. This book argues that diversity of membership is not an economic obstacle to the success of the euro, as diversity increases the potential gains from risk sharing. But political cooperation is needed to realize this potential, and such cooperation is up against collective action problems which become more intractable as the parties become more diverse. Hence, risk-sharing usually comes about as a collective by-product of national incentives. This political-economic tension can explain why the gains from risk-sharing are not more fully exploited, both in the euro area and in the US dollar area. This approach to monetary integration is based on the theory of collective action when hierarchy is not available as a solution to inter-state cooperation. The theory originates with Keohane and Ostrom (1995) and it is applied in this book, taking into account the latest research on the inherent instability of financial market integration.