|
|
|
Optimum Currency Areas |
A system of flexible exchange rates is usually presented, by its proponents, as a device whereby depreciation can take the place of unemployment when the external balance is in deficit, and appreciation can replace inflation when it is in surplus.
But the question then arises whether all existing national currencies should be flexible. Should the Ghanian pound be freed to fluctuate against all currencies or ought the present sterling area currencies remain pegged to the pound sterling? Or, supposing that the Common Market countries proceed with their plans for economic union, should these countries allow each national currency to fluctuate, or would a single currency area be preferable? The problem can be posed in a general and more revealing way by defining a currency area as a domain within which exchange rates are fixed and asking: What is the appropriate domain of a currency area? RAM |
|
“The question Mundell posed in his article on "optimum currency areas" (1961) therefore seemed radical: when is it advantageous for a number of regions to relinquish their monetary sovereignty in favor of a common currency?" Nobel Press Release
|
Related articles
by Robert A. Mundell: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Evolution of the International Monetary System and its Implications for China (Powerpoint Presentation)
▪ September
▪ 2006
|
| |
Presentation at the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, September 6, 2006 (Note: this is a powerpoint presentation in Adobe PDF format) |
|
|
57 pages
- Price: $10.00
|
|
|
|
The Case for an Asian Currency?
▪ November
▪ 2005
|
| |
Presentation at The Symposium on Monetary Affairs, Institute for International Monetary Affairs, Tokyo, November 12, 2005. |
|
|
14 pages
- Price: $10.00
|
|
|
|
Currency Area Formation and the Asian Region
▪ September
▪ 2001
|
| |
Paper presented at the Conference on the Monetary Outlook in East Asia in a Changing World Monetary Order," Bangkok, September 5-6, 2001 |
|
|
38 pages
- Price: $10.00
|
|
|
|
Exchange Rates, Currency Areas and the International Financial Architecture
▪ November
▪ 2000
|
| |
Remarks delivered at an IMF panel, September 22, 2000, Prague, Czech Republic. |
|
|
|
Prospects and Conditions for a Single Regional Currency
▪ 2000
|
| |
Conference and Q&A, Kuala Lampur, 2000 |
|
|
|
Does Asia Need a Common Currency?
▪ December
▪ 2000
|
| |
Speech delivered at 1st HKEA Biennal meeting, Hong Kong, December 2000 |
|
|
|
National Economic Policies, Currency Areas and Arab Monetary Integration
▪ November
▪ 2000
|
| |
Paper prepared for the “Conference on Leadership and Nation Building” sponsored by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies & Research, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 5-7 November 2000. |
|
|
|
What the Euro Means for the Dollar and the International Monetary System
▪ September
▪ 1998
|
| |
Atlantic Economic Journal
, 26, No. 3, 227-237
|
|
|
|
The Impact of the Euro on the International Monetary System
▪ April-June
▪ 1998
|
| |
The International Spectator
, XXXIII,No. 2
|
|
|
|
Monetary Policies for the New Europe
▪ 1991
|
| |
Rivista di Politica Economica
, 21, No. 5, 71-88.
|
|
|
|
The Geography of Inflation and the Reform of the Gold Standard
▪ 1976
|
| |
Geographical Aspects of Inflation ProcessesAmerican Geographical Society
|
|
|
|
Optimum Currency Areas and National Policy Mix
▪ 1975
|
|
|
|
A European Reserve Fund
▪ October
▪ 1973
|
| |
Study Group on Economic and Monetary Union: European Economic Integration and Monetary UnificationBrussels: Economic Communities
|
|
|
|
The International Monetary System and the European Region
▪ 1973
|
| |
Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales
, no.11
|
|
|
|
A Plan for a European Currency
▪ 1973
|
| |
The Economics of Common CurrenciesLondon: George Allen & Unwin Ltd
, 143-173
|
| |
H. Johnson and A. Swoboda |
|
|
|
Uncommon Arguments for Common Currencies
▪ 1973
|
| |
The Economics of Common CurrenciesLondon: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
, 114-132
|
| |
H. Johnson and A. Swoboda |
|
|
|
The Future of the International Financial System
▪ 1972
|
| |
Bretton Woods RevisitedToronto: University of Toronto Press
, 91-104
|
| |
A. Acheson, J. Chant, M. Prachowny |
|
|
|
The Choice of Monetary Systems: African Currency Problems
▪ 1972
|
| |
Africa and Monetary IntegrationMontreal: Les Editions HRW
, 363-368
|
|
|
|
African Trade, Politics and Money
▪ 1972
|
| |
Africa and Monetary IntegrationMontreal: Les Editions HRW
, 11-67
|
|
|
|
A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas
▪ November
▪ 1961
|
| |
The American Economic Review
|
|
|
|
| |