The International Monetary System, Paper Gold and the U.S. Balance of Payments Problem

1968 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
Frank C. McLaughlin
2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Obstfeld ◽  
Alan M. Taylor

In this essay, we highlight the interactions of the international monetary system with financial conditions, not just with the output, inflation, and balance of payments goals usually discussed. We review how financial conditions and outright financial crises have posed difficulties for each of the main international monetary systems in the last 150 years or so: the gold standard, the interwar period, the Bretton Woods system, and the current system of floating exchange rates. We argue that even as the world economy has evolved and sentiments have shifted among widely different policy regimes, there remain three fundamental challenges for any international monetary and financial system: How should exchange rates between national currencies be determined? How can countries with balance of payments deficits reduce these without sharply contracting their economies and with minimal risk of possible negative spillovers abroad? How can the international system ensure that countries have access to an adequate supply of international liquidity—financial resources generally acceptable to foreigners in all circumstances? In concluding, we evaluate how the current international monetary system answers these questions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 265-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Li ◽  
Han Su

Since the beginning of its reform and opening up over three decades ago, China has taken great efforts to integrate into the GATT/WTO-centered international trade system and the U.S. Dollar-centered international monetary system. By using the U.S. Dollar as the principal currency in its international economic engagement while exercising strict capital controls domestically, China has practically adopted a U.S. Dollar-dependent strategy to promote export, attract foreign investment, and maintain financial security, thus it has achieved lasting economic growth. However, with the declining credibility of the U.S. Dollar due to the U.S. financial crisis in 2008, and the increasing strategic competition between China and the United States, more and more Chinese in the policy and academic circles are skeptical of China's highly dependent monetary policy. Since 2009, China has begun to adopt a more proactive international monetary strategy by taking such measures as promoting the internationalization of the RMB, initiating new reforms of the international monetary system, and fostering a new regional monetary order. Such changes imply that China is changing its role: moving from being a dependent to a reformer of the U.S. Dollar system, which reflects a salient dimension of the evolving relationships between China and the broader international system.


Ekonomika ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-24
Author(s):  
Karina Jędrzejowska

The main goal of the paper is to examine the key features of the current international monetary system and provide an overview of scenarios for the future global monetary arrangements. It is noted that just a few years back there seemed to be a bipolar monetary system based on the U.S. dollar and the euro in the making. The rise of China and the possible emergence of the Chinese renminbi as an international currency gave way to a debate on a tripolar monetary system. Today, the future of the international monetary system is still open. It needs reforming in order to meet the requirements of the new global order with multiple growth centers, the growing role of transnational actors, and the increasing global influence of the major emerging economies.The analysis reveals that the relations among the major international currencies are changing, and today at least three scenarios for the future monetary order seem possible. These are the maintenance of the U.S. dollar domination, a shift towards a multipolar currency order, and the gradual regionalization of the currency order. The concept of a single currency – though theoretically attracting – seems impossible to be implemented in the foreseeable future. The analysis is based on monetary and economic theories, historical patterns of the development of monetary regimes, and an extensive literature overview backed by the data provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). 


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-281
Author(s):  
Jiejin Zhu ◽  

With the rise of China, reforming the global governance institutions has become an important part of China’s diplomacy. Based on whether to build new international rules or reinterpret or redeploy the existing ones, we can divide the rising power’s paths in global governance reform into four types: displacement, layering, conversion and avoidance. Why does China adopt different paths toward reforming the existing international institutions which are dominated by the U.S.? Building on the theory of “gradual institutional change” in historical institutionalism, this article argues that the veto capability of the established power and the flexibility of the existing international institution are two determinants of the rising power’s path selection in global governance reform. It applies this theoretical framework to explain China’s behaviour in four issue areas: sovereign credit rating, the international monetary system, free trade agreements and multilateral development banks. In sovereign credit rating, the strong veto capability of the U.S. and the low flexibility of the existing international credit rating institution make China adopt the path of avoidance. In the international monetary system, the strong veto capability of the U.S. and the high flexibility of the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights make China adopt the path of layering. In free trade agreements, the weak veto capability of the U.S. and low flexibility of the Trans-Pacific Partnership make China adopt the path of displacement. In multilateral development banks, the weak veto capability of the U.S. and high flexibility of World Bank rules make China adopt the path of conversion.


Policy Papers ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (104) ◽  
Author(s):  

This note provides guidance on the inclusion of AML/CFT issues in surveillance and financial stability assessments (FSAs). Specifically, it provides a framework for the treatment of cases where money laundering or terrorist financing (ML/TF) and related underlying crimes (i.e., “predicate crimes” or “predicate offenses”) are so serious as to threaten domestic stability, balance of payments stability, the effective operation of the International Monetary System—IMS— (in the case of Article IV surveillance), or the stability of the domestic financial system (in the case of FSAs).


2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Massimo Parenti

The growing importance of China in the global economy affects the reconfiguration of the international geography of power. In this scenario, the geopolitical order will be significantly redefined by the evolution of relations between China and the U.S. Based on the outcome of previous studies, and on the extensive efforts made by some social scientists, this paper provides a systematic analysis of the complexity and strategic implications of China–US relations. To make sense of these multivalent relations, after an initial introduction the paper is organized in three sections. The first section explores the structurally asymmetrical nature of relations between China and the US, focusing on economic policy decisions made by national elites. The second section focuses on the deepening U.S. debt, also underscoring the latest transformation trends experienced by an international monetary system that is still dollar–centred, and which several parties deem to be unsustainable. Lastly, the third section tries to provide evidence that growing instability in the global geopolitical order is intimately related to the economic and financial unbalances between China and the U.S. Hence, promoting more effective cooperation between China and the United States seems to be a priority. As substantiated in this paper, cooperation should, however, make the most of the Chinese developmental path, compared to that adopted by the United States – in terms of economic governance and geopolitical developmental path.


2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 1264-1265

Alberto Giovannini of Unifortune Asset Management reviews “Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System” by Barry Eichengreen. The EconLit abstract of the reviewed work begins, “Explores the rise of the U.S. dollar to international prominence over the course of the twentieth century and considers what actions the United States can take to prevent it from losing its dominance. Discusses debut; dominance; rivalry; crisis; monopoly no more; and the dollar crash. Eichengreen is Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Index.”


1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. Helleiner

Eleven recent books are surveyed in a review article which finds that there is still no up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of the interests and roles of the developing countries in the international monetary system. The rise of international commercial bank lending to developing countries has significantly altered the system by which balance-of-payments credit is offered. The International Monetary Fund has been relatively weakened, with especially serious implications for the poorest countries. Stabilization at both global and national levels has thus been impaired.


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