Introduction: The Main Features of the International Money’s Evolution

Giovanni Battista Pittaluga and Elena Seghezza
Additional contact information
Giovanni Battista Pittaluga: University of Genoa
Elena Seghezza: University of Genoa

Chapter Chapter 1 in Building Trust in the International Monetary System, 2021, pp 1-5 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract In the years following the Global Financial Crisis, the debate on reforms to the international monetary system and the prospects for the dollar, which is at the heart of the current system, has gained momentum. The contrasting views on these issues reflect differing theories on the origin of international money. Just as in the national sphere, so in the international sphere the evolution of money has been characterized by the transition from commodity money to forms of money with an intrinsic value ever further removed from their face value. This transition has favoured a significant increase in the elasticity of the money supply with respect to changes in the level of productive activity. This, in a context where the prices of certain goods and services are rigid, has fostered economic growth. However, the introduction of forms of money with little or no intrinsic value inevitably raises the question of how to ensure the stability of their value over time. This problem is particularly pronounced at the international level given the absence of a supranational authority and it can only be achieved when a certain balance of power prevails in the international arena.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:frochp:978-3-030-78491-1_1

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783030784911

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-78491-1_1

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Frontiers in Economic History from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().