Monetary Orders: Ambiguous Economics, Ubiquitous Politics

by Jonathan Kirshner

Overview

Wherever there is money, there is money politics-a subject demanding ever greater attention at a time when monetary policies lead and the real economy follows. A principal defining characteristic of the contemporary global economy, Jonathan Kirshner contends, is the rise and preeminence of monetary phenomena—international financial crises, Central Bank Independence and inflation fighting, the creation of the euro, and monetary reform in emerging economies, to name only a few. Moreover, unlike most debates in political economy (such as those regarding trade policy), which are generally recognized as political, monetary phenomena and macroeconomic policies are typically represented as expressly apolitical. In Monetary Orders, a distinguished group of scholars explores the inescapable political origins of choices about money.

The essays in Monetary Orders each address a specific issue or puzzle relating to money and its management. Their authors focus on markedly disparate cases but share a common observation: for most policy choices about money, market forces and economic logic can rule out certain options, but are indeterminate in explaining why one policy rather than another will be chosen. Ultimately, political factors are essential to explain fundamental and consequential choices about money.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801440601
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	01/02/2003
Series:	Cornell Studies in Political Economy
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jonathan Kirshner is Associate Professor of Government at Cornell University and the author of Currency and Coercion: The Political Economy of International Monetary Power.

Table of Contents

	Contributors	vii
	Acknowledgments	ix
Part 1	Money Rules: Follow the Politics
1.	The Inescapable Politics of Money	3
2.	Ideology, Power, and the Rise of Independent Monetary Institutions in Emerging Economies	25
Part 2	Small States in World Markets
3.	The Southern Side of Embedded Liberalism The Politics of Postwar Monetary Policy in the Third World	55
4.	When Do States Abandon Monetary Discretion? Lessons from the Evolution of the CFA Franc Zone	78
5.	National Strategy and National Money Politics and the End of the Ruble Zone, 1991-94	98
6.	The Political Economy of Currency Boards Argentina in Historical and Comparative Perspective	125
Part 3	Great Powers and Money Politics
7.	China's Exchange Rate Policy in the Aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis	153
8.	Internationalization of the Yen and the New Politics of Monetary Insulation	172
9.	Ideas, Power, and the Politics of U.S. International Monetary Policy during the 1960s	195
10.	Franco-German Interests in European Monetary Integration The Search for Autonomy and Acceptance	218
Part 4	The Politics of Ungoverned Capital
11.	The Political Power of Financial Ideas Transparency, Risk, and Distribution in Global Finance	239
12.	Explaining Choices about Money Disentangling Power, Ideas, and Conflict	260
	References	281
	Index	311

What People are Saying About This

John S. Odell

In this subtle and refreshing book, Jonathan Kirshner and his group remind us that so often, the economics behind monetary policy are consistent with more than one policy. Politics too, not just economics and markets, accounts for the recent worldwide drive for extremely slow inflation, central bank independence, and removal of all international capital controls. The book presents a strong case, and it implies that leaders in every region should reevaluate these policies and who gains and who loses from them.

Thomas D. Willett

Monetary Orders makes a major contribution to our knowledge about a number of important aspects of the political economy of monetary relations.

Editorial Reviews

Monetary Orders is a must read for anyone interested in the political economy of global money and finance.... In substantive terms it is cutting edge, providing a valuable guide to the the thinking of the latest generation of specialists in the field.

Benjamin J. Cohen

Monetary Orders is a must read for anyone interested in the political economy of global money and finance.... In substantive terms it is cutting edge, providing a valuable guide to the the thinking of the latest generation of specialists in the field.

--Benjamin J. Cohen, University of California at Santa Barbara "Perspectives on Politics"

From the Publisher

"Monetary Orders makes a major contribution to our knowledge about a number of important aspects of the political economy of monetary relations."

Thomas D. Willett

"In this subtle and refreshing book, Jonathan Kirshner and his group remind us that so often, the economics behind monetary policy are consistent with more than one policy. Politics too, not just economics and markets, accounts for the recent worldwide drive for extremely slow inflation, central bank independence, and removal of all international capital controls. The book presents a strong case, and it implies that leaders in every region should reevaluate these policies and who gains and who loses from them."

John S. Odell