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An Economic Analysis of the Bahamas Currency Board

Author

Listed:
  • Philip Prokos

    (The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise)

Abstract

This paper seeks to answer whether the replacement of the Bahamas currency board by a central bank was a rational decision given the subsequent economic performance climate of the central bank and the Bahamian economy. The paper describes the currency board’s establishment; its switch from the pound sterling to the U.S. dollar as the anchor currency; and its replacement by a proto-central bank soon succeeded by the Central Bank of the Bahamas, which continues in existence today. Statements of the currency board from the Bahamas Gazette as well as other sources will help analyze the aforementioned periods and illustrate the effects each transition had on the economy. The paper will examine the later years of the currency board and test whether it behaved in an orthodox or unorthodox manner as well as exploring its relation to government finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip Prokos, 2016. "An Economic Analysis of the Bahamas Currency Board," Studies in Applied Economics 63, The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:jhisae:0063
    as

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    File URL: https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2017/04/Economic-Analysis-of-the-Bahamas-Currency-Board.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:wbk:wbpubs:21634 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:wbk:wbpubs:18237 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Frankema, Ewout, 2010. "Raising revenue in the British empire, 1870–1940: how ‘extractive’ were colonial taxes?," Journal of Global History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 447-477, November.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E59 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Other
    • N16 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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