Derek H. Aldcroft - Exchange Rates and Economic Policy in the 20th Century

Modern Economic and Social History Series

General Editor: Derek H. Aldcroft

Titles in this series include:

The Seaside, Health and the Environment
in England and Wales Since 1800
John Hassan

Disillusionment or New Opportunities?
The Changing Nature of Work in Offices, Glasgow 18801914
R. Guerriero-Wilson

Raleigh and the British Bicycle Industry
An Economic and Business History, 18701960
Roger Lloyd-Jones and M.J. Lewis with the assistance of M. Eason

Battles for the Standard
Bimetallism and the Spread of the Gold Standard in the
Nineteenth Century
Ted Wilson

The British Footwear Industry
Peter R. Mounfield

Trade Unions and the Economy: 18702000
Derek H. Aldcroft and Michael J. Oliver

The British Electronics Industry
Technical Promise and Market Failure, 19302000
John F. Wilson

The Skilled Compositor, 18501914
An Aristocrat Among Working Men
Patrick Duffy

Lancashire Cotton Operatives and Work, 19001950
A Social History of Lancashire Cotton Operatives in the Twentieth Century
Alan Fowler

Industrial Clusters and Regional Business Networks in England, 17501970
John F. Wilson and Andrew Popp

The initial basis for this volume was a collection of papers presented at the Congress of the International Economic History Association held in Madrid in August 1998, but subsequently the original papers were extensively revised and reworked to reflect further research, and new papers were added to provide a more extensive view of exchange rates and economic policy in the 20th century. These revisions have helped to create a volume which is not only backward-looking in the sense that it analyses exchange rate issues of the past, but also a volume which it is hoped will help readers derive new insights into key factors affecting future exchange rate management and policy.

The original versions of the papers presented in Madrid centred on empirical issues of exchange rate behaviour and performance in the period since the First World War through to the late 1990s. Subsequently, these papers were revised and extended, and new chapters were added covering more theoretical issues: issues of the durability of European economic and monetary union and country convergence, and a consideration of the alternative exchange rate strategies open to new aspirants to the European Union membership (especially in south-eastern Europe). With the addition of these new chapters, the euro increasingly became an object of focus. At the Madrid Congress in August 1998, when earlier versions of some of the papers were presented, the formal launch of the euro was still to come. However, in many European countries the event was excitedly anticipated as a revolutionary change in international finance, and especially important in propelling an integrated Europe forward in terms of international trade in goods and services, prestige and economic growth. Some also saw it as an important milestone along the way to political union in Europe. In the opening session of the Congress, the Spanish Minister of Finance stressed the great significance for Europe and the global economy of the single currency project. This euro-enthusiasm was reflected in the Spanish banks at the time, many of which bore posters announcing Hola euro, adios peseta.