IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bfr/bullbf/202022906.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The euro in the history of the international monetary system
[L’euro dans l’histoire du système monétaire international]

Author

Listed:
  • Genre Véronique
  • Lecat Rémy
  • Marsilli Clément

Abstract

The international monetary system has alternated between periods with several cohabiting currencies, such as the dollar and pound sterling in the 1920s, and periods with one dominant currency, such as the dollar since 1945. Despite the political decision not to push for the euro’s internationalisation, and the decline in its role after the 2008 crisis, the single currency ranks second in the international monetary system, well ahead of those currencies behind it in the rankings, but still far behind the US dollar. The internationalisation of the renminbi remains limited at present due to the controls on China’s capital account. While the crises have confirmed the pre-eminence of the dollar, the policies currently being pursued by the United States, as well as recent technological developments, could provide an opportunity to promote the euro’s role, provided appropriate policies are put in place to safeguard the euro area’s resilience. Le système monétaire international a connu une alternance de cohabitation de plusieurs monnaies, comme le dollar et la livre sterling dans les années 1920, et de monnaies dominantes, comme le dollar depuis 1945. Malgré le choix politique de ne pas pousser à l’internationalisation de l’euro et le recul engendré par la crise de 2008, la monnaie unique est désormais en deuxième position dans le système monétaire international : l’euro reste nettement devant les monnaies classées après lui, mais relativement loin derrière le dollar américain. Aujourd’hui, l’internationalisation du renminbi demeure en effet limitée par le contrôle du compte de capital chinois. Si les crises ont confirmé la prééminence du dollar, les politiques menées par les États Unis et les évolutions technologiques pourraient constituer une opportunité de développement pour l’euro si, toutefois, des politiques adaptées pour garantir la résilience de la zone euro sont mises en œuvre.

Suggested Citation

  • Genre Véronique & Lecat Rémy & Marsilli Clément, 2020. "The euro in the history of the international monetary system [L’euro dans l’histoire du système monétaire international]," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 229.
  • Handle: RePEc:bfr:bullbf:2020:229:06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/820154_bdf229-6_en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://publications.banque-france.fr/sites/default/files/medias/documents/820155_bdf229-6_euro-dans-histoire_vf.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Desecures, M. & Pouvelle, C., 2007. "Les enjeux de l’euroïsation dans les régions voisines de la zone euro," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 160, pages 35-46.
    2. Michael Bordo & Barry Eichengreen, 2013. "Bretton Woods and the Great Inflation," NBER Chapters, in: The Great Inflation: The Rebirth of Modern Central Banking, pages 449-489, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Bussière Matthieu & Lecat Rémy & Vidon Edouard, 2020. "Why and how to develop the international role of the euro? [Pourquoi et comment développer le rôle international de l’euro ?]," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 229.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael D. Bordo & Owen F. Humpage & Anna J. Schwartz, 2015. "US Intervention and the Early Dollar Float, 1973–1981," NBER Chapters, in: Strained Relations: US Foreign-Exchange Operations and Monetary Policy in the Twentieth Century, pages 210-267, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Monnet, Eric & Puy, Damien, 2020. "Do old habits die hard? Central banks and the Bretton Woods gold puzzle," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    3. Owen F. Humpage & Sanchita Mukherjee, 2013. "Even keel and the Great Inflation," Working Papers (Old Series) 1315, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    4. Schäfer, Wolf, 2010. "The future of the international exchange rate system," Discussion Papers 3/10, Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, Institute for European Integration.
    5. Michael D. Bordo & Owen F. Humpage, 2014. "Federal Reserve Policy and Bretton Woods," NBER Working Papers 20656, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Edwin M. Truman, 2014. "The Federal Reserve engages the world (1970-2000): an insider's narrative of the transition to managed floating and financial turbulence," Globalization Institute Working Papers 210, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    7. Michael D. Bordo & Robert N. McCauley, 2019. "Triffin: Dilemma or Myth?," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 67(4), pages 824-851, December.
    8. Riccardo DiCecio & Edward Nelson, 2013. "The Great Inflation in the United States and the United Kingdom: Reconciling Policy Decisions and Data Outcomes," NBER Chapters, in: The Great Inflation: The Rebirth of Modern Central Banking, pages 393-438, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Mark A. Carlson & David C. Wheelock, 2014. "Navigating constraints: the evolution of Federal Reserve monetary policy, 1935-59," Working Papers 2014-13, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    10. Michael D. Bordo & Andrew T. Levin, 2017. "Central Bank Digital Currency and the Future of Monetary Policy," NBER Working Papers 23711, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Michael D. Bordo & Owen F. Humpage & Anna J. Schwartz, 2015. "US Intervention during the Bretton Woods Era, 1962–1973," NBER Chapters, in: Strained Relations: US Foreign-Exchange Operations and Monetary Policy in the Twentieth Century, pages 120-209, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Aristidou, Chrystalleni, 2018. "The meta-Phillips Curve: Modelling U.S. inflation in the presence of regime change," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 367-379.
    13. Michael D. Bordo & Owen F. Humpage & Anna J. Schwartz, 2010. "U.S. Foreign-Exchange-Market Intervention and the Early Dollar Float: 1973 - 1981," NBER Working Papers 16647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Monnet, Eric & Velde, François R., 2020. "Money, Banking, and Old-School Historical Economics," CEPR Discussion Papers 15348, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Barry Eichengreen, 2013. "Does the Federal Reserve Care about the Rest of the World?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(4), pages 87-104, Fall.
    16. Goulard Sylvie, 2020. "The international role of the euro [Le rôle international de l’euro]," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 229.
    17. Itai Agur & Mario Bergara & Michael D. Bordo & Alessandra Cillo & Walter Engert & Santiago Fernandez de Lis & Ben S.C. Fung & Ernest Gnan & Andrew T. Levin & Dirk Niepelt & Ruth Judson & Donato Mascia, 2018. "Do We Need Central Bank Digital Currency? Economics, Technology and Institutions," SUERF Studies, SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum, number 2018/2 edited by Ernest Gnan and Donato Masciandaro, May.
    18. Michael D. Bordo & Andrew T. Levin, 2019. "Digital Cash: Principles & Practical Steps," NBER Working Papers 25455, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Michael D. Bordo, 2020. "The Imbalances of the Bretton Woods System 1965 to 1973: U.S. Inflation, the Elephant in the Room," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 195-211, February.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • N24 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: 1913-

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bfr:bullbf:2020:229:06. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael brassart (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdfgvfr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.