Monetary Theory and Bretton Woods
The Construction of an International Monetary Order

This book argues that advances in monetary theory played a decisive role in the Bretton Woods Agreements of July 1944.

Filippo Cesarano (Author)

9780521867597, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 September 2006

262 pages
23.6 x 16.1 x 2.5 cm, 0.492 kg

'… Cesarano rediscovers and distils the ideas of dozens of economists.' Journal of European Economic History

Over the twentieth century monetary theory played a crucial role in the evolution of the international monetary system. The severe shocks and monetary gyrations of the interwar years interacted with theoretical developments that superseded the rigid rules of commodity standards and led to the full-fledged conception of monetary policy. The definitive demise of the gold standard then paved the way for monetary reconstruction. Monetary theory was a decisive factor in the design of the reform proposals, in the Bretton Woods negotiations, and in forging the new monetary order. The Bretton Woods system - successful but nevertheless short-lived - suffered from latent inconsistencies, both analytical and institutional, which fatally undermined the foundations of the postwar monetary architecture and brought about the epochal transition from commodity money to fiat money.

1. Introduction
2. International monetary equilibrium and the properties of the gold standard
3. The international monetary system between the world wars
4. The monetary system in economic analysis: the critique of the gold standard
5. The Great Depression: overturning the state of the art
6. Providing for a new monetary order
7. The Bretton Woods Agreements
8. Bretton Woods and after.

Subject Areas: Banking [KFFK], Economic history [KCZ], Economics [KC]