From Gold to Euro

On Monetary Theory and the History of Currency Systems
2001
ISBN: 978-3-540-41605-0
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Buch, Englisch, 220 Seiten, HC runder Rücken kaschiert, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 1130 g

This book deals with the evolution of monetary systems. Firstly, it argues that money forms a constitutional element in any private-ownership economy, estab­ lishing a nominal-standard order for the market behaviour of individual agents. The market economy is basically a payment society where money structures and values economic activities, and performs itself as a market asset. The use of re­ sources and the production of commodities are governed by calculations in mone­ tary values which subordinate production and employment to the logic of asset markets. The "veil" of money cannot be withdrawn, as a matter of fact and in theoretical analysis, without changing the economic order of society. Money originates from a credit relation between market agents, thus spot payments re­ place intertemporal exchange. Problems of low trust and information in mutual economic relations are projected onto the money medium in a monetary economy, thereby enhancing its efficiency and dynamics. The rate of interest is not related to time; it is the price for maintaining the agents' solvency in the current period, and it determines a positive rate of return on capital and production. Secondly, the book shows that network externalities in the use of money led to monopoly solutions in the national and hegemonic leader-follower relations in the international economy.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Spahn, Heinz-Peter

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Geldwirtschaft, Währungspolitik
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Internationaler Handel
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftssysteme, Wirtschaftsstrukturen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Europäische Union, Europapolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

I On The Theory of a Monetary Economy.- 1. Market Organization and Monetary Contracts.- 2. Money, Interest and Capital.- II Banking and the Rise of Monetary Policy.- 3. Banks as Creators of Money.- 4. The Emergence of Central Banking in England.- III The Evolution of Key Currency Systems: A Game-Theoretic Perspective.- 5. The Hegemony of Pound Sterling in the Gold Standard.- 6. The Loss of Credibility and Stability in the Bretton Woods System.- 7. The European Paper Money Standard: A “DM Club”.- IV The Euro in the World Economy.- 8. A Monetary Union With a Denationalized Currency.- 9. The Multiple International Monetary Standard.- List of Figures.- List of Tables.- References.