On the origins of the Triffin dilemma: Empirical business cycle analysis and imperfect competition theory

Ivo Maes ()
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Ivo Maes: National Bank of Belgium, Research Department

No 240, Working Paper Research from National Bank of Belgium

Abstract: Robert Triffin became famous with his trenchant analyses of the vulnerabilities of the Bretton Woods system. These are still at the center of many discussions today. This paper argues that there is a remarkable continuity in Triffin's work. From his earliest writings, Triffin developed a vision that the international adjustment process was not functioning according to the classical mechanisms. This view was based on thorough empirical analyses of the Belgian economy during the Great Depression and shaped by a business cycle perspective with an emphasis on the disequilibria and the transition period. His doctoral dissertation on imperfect competition theory and his Latin American experience further reinforced this basic view.

Keywords: Triffin; Bretton Woods; international liquidity; business cycle theory; imperfect competition theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A11 B22 B31 E30 E50 F02 F32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2012-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201212-240

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