The spread of currency convertibility is one of the most dramatic trends of the late twentieth century. It reflects the desire of policymakers to integrate their economies into the global trading system and to attract financial capital and direct investment from abroad. In this book a team of leading international economists and economic historians look at parallel situations in the history of the international monetary system, focusing in particular on the gold standard. The concluding chapter uses a case study of modern Portugal to draw out implications for modern international monetary...

More than five years have passed since South Korea fell prey to the Asian financial crisis. Bringing together experts from Korea and a variety of other countries, this book aims to better understand the three stages of the Korean crisis: the onset, the policy reaction, and the economic response. Providing an integrated analysis of the event and its consequences, the chapters in the book consider the causes of the crisis, the response of the US government and International Monetary Fund, adjustments in the Korean monetary and fiscal policies, and the success of financial and corporate...

Europe's economy is under strain due to lagging productivity growth, population ageing, the difficulties of adjustment in an enlarged European Union, and the challenges of globalization. In comparison with America, rates of growth of GDP per capita and labour productivity growth are anaemic, raising questions about the viability of a distinct European model. From observations like these, conclusions can be drawn that Europe will feel irresistible pressure to allow its policies and institutions to converge toward those of the United States. But how far and how fast are uncertain. Edited by...

This book offers a reassessment of the international monetary problems that led to the global economic crisis of the 1930s. It explores the connections between the gold standard--the framework regulating international monetary affairs until 1931--and the Great Depression that broke out in 1929. Eichengreen shows how economic policies, in conjunction with the imbalances created by World War I, gave rise to the global crisis of the 1930s. He demonstrates that the gold standard fundamentally constrained the economic policies that were pursued and that it was largely responsible for creating the...

Barry Eichengreen traces the rise of the dollar to international prominence. He shows how the greenback dominated internationally in the second half of the 20th century for the same reasons that the United States dominated the global economy.

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...