Money and the Nation State

by Dowd, Kevin; Timberlake, Richard H., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9781560003021
• ISBN10: 1560003022
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-01-01
• Publisher: Transaction Pub

Summary

This book examines the history of modern monetary and banking arrangements, some of the major monetary and banking problems, and options for meaningful reform. The common theme of all the essays is that current arrangements result less from the accomplishments of great men than man-made institutions that society has inherited -- central banks and the legal and regulatory frameworks that accompany them. The contributors emphasize the impact of political interference on the workings of monetary and financial institutions. Not surprisingly, they find many problems arise because politically generated structures are inappropriate to the real needs of the individuals and groups they are meant to serve. Money and the Nation State provides an essential framework for those willing to return to first principles in thinking about the role of monetary institutions in economic life.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Merton H. Miller
Introduction	1	(20)
Kevin Dowd
Richard H. Timberlake
I. The History of the Modern International Monetary System	21	(172)
1. An Evolutionary Theory of the State Monopoly over Money	21	(26)
David Glasner
2. National Sovereignty and International Monetary Regimes	47	(30)
Frank van Dun
3. From Gold to the Ecu: The International Monetary System in Retrospect	77	(28)
Leland B. Yeager
4. The Gold-Exchange Standard in the Interwar Years	105	(62)
Murray N. Rothbard
5. Gold Standard Policy and Limited Government	167	(26)
Richard H. Timberlake
II. Modern Money and Central Banking	193	(138)
6. U.S.Financial Policy in the Post-Bretton Woods Period	193	(20)
Thomas F. Cargill
7. Bank Deposit Guarantees: Why Not Trust the Market?	213	(34)
Genie D. Short
Kenneth J. Robinson
8. The IMF's Destructive Recipe: Rising Tax Rates and Falling Currencies	247	(58)
Alan Reynolds
9. Global Economic Integration: Trends and Alternative Policy Responses	305	(26)
Robert E. Keleher
III. Foundations for Monetary and Banking Reform	331	(92)
10. The Political Economy of Discretionary Monetary Policy: A Public Choice Analysis of Proposals for Reform	331	(20)
Richard C.K. Burdekin
Jilleen Westbrook
Thomas D. Willet
11. The Misguided Drive toward European Monetary Union	351	(26)
Kevin Dowd
12. Monetary Nationalism Reconsidered	377	(26)
Lawrence H. White
13. Currency Boards and Free Banking	403	(20)
Steve H. Hanke
Kurt Schuler
About the Editors and Contributors	423	(8)
Index	431