Suchergebnisse

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.