Blocs, Zones and Bands: International Monetary History in the Light of Recent Theoretical Developments
Résumé
Trends in international finance in recent decades have inspired considerable research on bloc- and band-based international monetary arrangements. From this literature has emerged models providing the basis for much recent work in international monetary economics. To date, however, their application to historical experience has been rare. The authors, therefore, highlight parallels between modern-day target zones, on the one hand, and the classical and interwar gold standards and Bretton Woods System, on the other. They suggest that bloc-based international monetary arrangements are in fact an historical commonplace; they have been the rule rather than the exception. Copyright 1996 by Scottish Economic Society.