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Resurrecting Keynes to Stabilize the International Monetary System

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  • Pietro Alessandrini
  • Michele Fratianni

Abstract

We adapt the basic principles of the Keynes Plan and argue for the creation of a supranational bank money that would coexist along side national currencies and for the establishment of a new international clearing union (NICU). These principles remain timely because the fundamental causes of the instability of the international monetary system are as valid today as they were in the early Forties. The new international money would be created against domestic earning assets of the Fed and the ECB. The quantity of this supranational bank money would be demand driven and thus would differ from the helicopter-money Special Drawing Rights. NICU would not hold open positions in assets denominated in national currency and consequently would not bear exchange rate risk. NICU would be more than an office where to record credit and debit entries of the supranational bank money. The financial tsunami that has hit the United States in 2007-2008 provides a unique opportunity for a coordinated strategy.
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  • Pietro Alessandrini & Michele Fratianni, 2009. "Resurrecting Keynes to Stabilize the International Monetary System," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 339-358, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:openec:v:20:y:2009:i:3:p:339-358
    DOI: 10.1007/s11079-008-9106-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Bordo & Harold James, 2012. "Reserves and Baskets," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 113-127, February.
    2. Michele Fratianni, 2008. "Financial Crises, Safety Nets and Regulation," Rivista italiana degli economisti, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 169-208.
    3. Alberto Russo, 2014. "Elements of Novelty, Known Mechanisms, and the Fundamental Causes of the Recent Crisis," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 743-764.
    4. Pietro Alessandrini & Andrea Filippo Presbitero, 2011. "Low-Income Countries Vulnerabilities and the Need for an SDR-Based International Monetary System," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 55, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    5. Rahman, Abdurrahman Arum, 2022. "A Decentralized Central Bank Digital Currency," MPRA Paper 111361, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Fratianni, Michele & Giri, Federico, 2017. "The tale of two great crises," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 5-31.
    7. Riccardo Fiorentini, 2011. "Global Imbalances, the International Crisis and the Role of the Dollar," Working Papers 18/2011, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    8. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2009. "The Role of Banks in the Subprime Financial Crisis," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 23, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    9. Steiner, Andreas, 2014. "Current account balance and dollar standard: Exploring the linkages," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 65-94.
    10. Riccardo Fiorentini & Guido Montani, 2012. "The New Global Political Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14443.
    11. Pietro Alessandrini, Michele Fratianni, 2015. "In the absence of fiscal union, the Eurozone needs a more flexible monetary policy," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 68(275), pages 279-296.
    12. Anna M. Carabelli & Mario A. Cedrini, 2010. "“Veiling The Controversies with Dubious Moral Attitudes”? Creditors and Debtors in Keynes’s Ethics of International Economic Relations," Working Papers 127, SEMEQ Department - Faculty of Economics - University of Eastern Piedmont.
    13. Seghezza, Elena & Morelli, Pierluigi, 2018. "Rule of law and balance of power sustain US dollar preeminence," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 16-36.
    14. Michele Fratianni, 2012. "The Future International Monetary System: Dominant Currencies or Supranational Money? An Introduction," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-12, February.
    15. Pietro Alessandrini, 2013. "Il Bancor," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 84, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    16. Pietro Alessandrini & Michele Fratianni, 2009. "International Monies, Special Drawing Rights, and Supernational Money," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 26, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    17. Pietro Alessandrini & Michele Fratianni & Andrew Hughes Hallett & Andrea Presbitero, 2014. "External Imbalances and Fiscal Fragility in the Euro Area," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 3-34, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Keynes Plan; External imbalances; Exchange rates; International monetary system; Key currency; Supranational bank money; E42; E52; F33; F36;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration

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