Publisher's Synopsis
In modern economies, many would accept that there is a significant monetary mangement role for central banks. But does the international monetary system also require management, and if so, by whom? Andrew Walter challenges the claim, frequently made in much recent commentary on international economic relations, that hegemonic powers (Britain and then the US) through their dominance of international finance have provided such management and hereby stabilized the international monetary system. He argues that stability actually derived from the broad compatibility in certain periods between national economic policy and the shape of the international monetary system.;Following the dramatic transformation of the international monetary and financial system since the 1970s, with a shifting balance of economic power between the US, Japan and Germany, and high levels of financial integration, greater stability is only likely with a considerably heightened degree of cooperation between the major powers. Andrew Walter argues, contrary to much recent literature, that gradual US decline relative to other major powers may in fact be conducive rather than detrimental to such co-operation.
