Suchergebnisse

Some discussion of the ecu as a developing common currency of Western Europe.

List of Contents -- One: The Background to the European Monetary System -- 1: An Economic and Monetary Union: The earlier plans -- 2: The Experience of the "Snake" System -- Two: The European Monetary System -- 3: The Reasons for the System -- 4: The Mechanisms of the System -- 5: The System in Operation -- Three: The Future of the EMS: Technical Considerations -- 6: The Future Role of the ECU -- 7: The Convergence of National Economies -- 8: The Money Supply Question -- Four: The Future of the EMS: The Integration of Capital Markets and Banking Systems -- 9: A European Capital Market -- 10: A European Banking System -- Five: The Future of the EMS: Institutional Considerations -- 11: The Future European Monetary Fund -- Six: Other Countries -- 12: The United Kingdom -- 13: The New Member States -- Seven: Non-Community Countries -- 14: The United States of America, Japan, and Third World Countries -- Eight: The Future of the EMS — Towards an EMU? -- 15: Basic Considerations -- Conclusions -- Appendices -- Supplement to the Second Edition.

Abstract. European Community monetary integration has received periodic attention often as a result of financial crises but has now evolved into its major aim. To achieve this goal the European Monetary System was established in 1979. It was designed to provide a tool, the Exchange Rate Mechanism, for exchange rate stabilization and convergence of economic and monetary policies. To give further impetus to monetary integration the Maastricht Treaty was approved in December 1991. Experiences with the operation of the European Monetary System show that there is no conclusive evidence that it has disciplined the monetary and fiscal policies of all its members. More recently, Germany's insistence on a tight monetary‐ policy, to fight the inflation that resulted from unification costs, has brought turmoil in European financial markets and has dealt a serious blow to the system. Furthermore, the ensuing recession and its impact on the European economies make improbable that the timetable of the Maastricht Treaty will be met.

The creation of the euro at the beginning of 1999 represents one of the most significant events in international finance since the end of World War II. Never in the past had a group of sovereign nations voluntarily given up their national currency for a common currency. The article begins by reviewing the benefits & costs of the euro on the participating countries; it then examines the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the conduct of monetary policy in the European Monetary Union, as well as its effect on the euro/dollar & euro/yen exchange rates; finally, the article analyzes the effect that the ECG has & is likely to have on the functioning of the international monetary system. 1 Table, 2 Figures, 30 References. [Copyright 2002 Sage Publications, Inc.]

THE EUROPEAN MONETARY SYSTEM (EMS) IS MORE THAN FIVE YEARS OLD NOW. THE IDEA WAS: (A) TO MAINTAIN EXCHANGE RATES BETWEEN THE CURRENCIES AS STABLE AS POSSIBLE IN ORDER TO FOSTER MONETARY AND PRICE STABILITY AS WELL AS INTRA-EUROPEAN TRADE AND THEREBY ALSO ECONOMIC INTEGRATION WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY; (B) TO PUT THE ONUS ON GOVERNMENTS WHOSE FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICIES HAD FORCED THEM TO ASK THE OTHER GOVERNMENTS FOR A RE-ALIGNMENT. (C) TO CREATE A EUROPEAN CURRENCY WHOSE GLOBAL WEIGHT WOULD BE SUCH THAT IT COULD MATCH THE DOLLAR AND THE YEN.