Monetary Standards and Exchange Rates (Hardcover, Annotated Ed)

In this volume an international team of monetary historians examine the historical experience of exchange rate behaviour under different monetary regimes. The main focus is on metallic standards and fixed exchange rates, such as the gold standard. With its combination of thematic overviews and case studies of key countries and periods, this book provides enhanced understanding of past monetary systems. The volume is divided into three parts. Part I evaluates the various monetary systems. The performance of metallic regimes is compared with the other monetary systems of human history, using criteria such as growth, inflation and general economic stability. Part II is concerned with the detailed behaviour of exchange rates under historical metallic regimes. Much attention is paid to the bimetallic standard of both gold and silver. Part III examines the different behaviour of metallic standards in the centre countries and at the periphery. This book should be of interest to economic historians and general historians with an interest in monetary history, and to scholars of macroeconomics and international economics.