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International Currencies Past, Present and Future: Two Views from Economic History

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  • Barry Eichengreen

    (University of California, Berkeley)

Abstract

This paper contrasts two views of international currency status: an "old view" in which network increasing returns are sufficiently strong that one currency dominates international markets at any point in time, versus a "new view" in which networks are open and several international currencies can coexist. It marshals historical evidence in favor of the "new view" and suggests that several national currencies, most plausibly the U.S. dollar and Chinese renminbi, are likely to share this international currency role in the not-too-distant future.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry Eichengreen, 2014. "International Currencies Past, Present and Future: Two Views from Economic History," Working Papers 2014-31, Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea.
    • Handle: RePEc:bok:wpaper:1431
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mohammed Ahmed, Abdullahi, 2019. "China’s Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement: Strategic Move to Foster Political and Financial Hegemony," MPRA Paper 109879, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 08 Oct 2019.
    2. Barry Eichengreen & Domenico Lombardi, 2017. "RMBI or RMBR? Is the Renminbi Destined to Become a Global or Regional Currency?," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 35-59, Winter/Sp.
    3. Miaojie Yu, 2020. "China-US Trade War and Trade Talk," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-981-15-3785-1, November.
    4. Yin-Wong Cheung, 2023. "A decade of RMB internationalisation," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 47-74, January.
    5. Matthew Harrison & Geng Xiao, 2019. "China and Special Drawing Rights—Towards a Better International Monetary System," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Ward, Felix & Chen, Yao, 2016. "Rigid relations: External adjustment under the Gold Standard (1880-1913)," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145930, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Miaojie Yu, 2023. "Internationalisierung des RMB und Belt and Road Initiative," Springer Books, in: Handelskrieg und Handelsgespräche zwischen China und den USA, chapter 10, pages 157-173, Springer.
    8. Jeremy Srouji, 2021. "Why is World Money World Money? A View from the Functions of Money," GREDEG Working Papers 2021-44, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    9. Delphine Lahet & Stéphanie Prat, 2021. "Internationalisation of emerging market currencies and original sin: Empirical evidence," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1973-2003, July.
    10. Delphine Lahet & Stéphanie Prat, 2023. "Local-currency debt and currency internationalization dynamics: A nonlinear framework," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 159(1), pages 215-254, February.
    11. Fan Zhang & Miaojie Yu & Jiantuo Yu & Yang Jin, 2017. "The Effect of RMB Internationalization on Belt and Road Initiative: Evidence from Bilateral Swap Agreements," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(12), pages 2845-2857, December.
    12. Kwon, Austin, 2017. "Trends in the Accumulation of Net Foreign Reserves since World War II," Studies in Applied Economics 94, The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise.
    13. Miaojie Yu, 2023. "Chinas Handelsentwicklung und die Gestaltung der Öffnungspolitik in den letzten vier Jahrzehnten," Springer Books, in: Handelskrieg und Handelsgespräche zwischen China und den USA, chapter 1, pages 3-22, Springer.
    14. Popov, Vladimir, 2023. "US dollar is losing it position of a reserve currency: How the BRICS development bank can ensure the soft landing," MPRA Paper 118342, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Globalization; Inflation Dynamics; Global Slack Hypothesis; Openness; Inflation Expectations; Small Open Economy DSGE Model; Korea;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • F62 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Macroeconomic Impacts

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