Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System - Second Edition

First published more than a decade ago, Globalizing Capital remains an indispensable part of the economic literature today. Written by renowned economist Barry Eichengreen, this classic book emphasizes the importance of the international monetary system for understanding the international economy. Brief and lucid, Globalizing Capital is intended not only for economists, but also a general audience of historians, political scientists, professionals in government and business, and anyone with a broad interest in international relations. Eichengreen demonstrates that the international monetary system can be understood and effectively governed only if it is seen as a historical phenomenon extending from the period of the gold standard to today's world of fluctuating prices. This updated edition continues to document the effect of floating exchange rates and contains a new chapter on the Asian financial crisis, the advent of the euro, the future of the dollar, and related topics. Globalizing Capital shows how these and other recent developments can be put in perspective only once their political and historical contexts are understood.

Table of Contents:
Preface vii Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: The Gold Standard 6 Prehistory 7 The Dilemmas of Bimetallism 8 The Lure of Bimetallism 12 The Advent of the Gold Standard 15 Shades of Gold 19 How the Gold Standard Worked 24 The Gold Standard as a Historically Specifi c Institution 29 International Solidarity 32 The Gold Standard and the Lender of Last Resort 34 Instability at the Periphery 37 The Stability of the System 41 Chapter Three: Interwar Instability 43 Chronology 44 Experience with Floating: The Controversial Case of the Franc 49 Reconstructing the Gold Standard 55 The New Gold Standard 59 Problems of the New Gold Standard 61 The Pattern of International Payments 66 Responses to the Great Depression 70 Banking Crises and Their Management 73 Disintegration of the Gold Standard 75 Sterling's Crisis 78 The Dollar Follows 83 Managed Floating 86 Conclusions 89 Chapter Four: The Bretton Woods System 91 Wartime Planning and Its Consequences 94 The Sterling Crisis and the Realignment of European Currencies 100 The European Payments Union 104 Payments Problems and Selective Controls 107 Convertibility: Problems and Progress 111 Special Drawing Rights 115 Declining Controls and Rising Rigidity 118 The Battle for Sterling 123 The Crisis of the Dollar 126 The Lessons of Bretton Woods 132 Chapter Five: After Bretton Woods 134 Floating Exchange Rates in the 1970s 136 Floating Exchange Rates in the 1980s 142 The Snake 149 The European Monetary System 157 Renewed Impetus for Integration 164 Europe's Crisis 168 Understanding the Crisis 172 The Experience of Developing Countries 178 Conclusions 183 Chapter Six: A Brave New Monetary World 185 The Asian Crisis 192 Emerging Instability 198 Global Imbalances 210 The Euro 219 International Currency Competition 225 Chapter Seven: Conclusion 228 Glossary 233 References 241 Index 259

About the Author :
Barry Eichengreen is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. His books include Golden Fetters and The European Economy since 1945 (Princeton).

Review :
Praise for the first edition: "This book by a prominent historian is a succinct and well-written history of the international monetary system... [It] provides useful historical background for understanding current European efforts to create a monetary union."--Richard N. Cooper, Foreign Affairs Praise for the first edition: "Capital flows in the recent period, unlike those in the earlier one, proved to be incompatible with exchange rate stability. [Eichengreen's] reasons for the difference ... constitute a unique insight and contribution."--Choice