Money and the Nation State: The Financial Revolution, Governement and the World Monetary System (Google eBook)

Kevin Dowd, Richard Henry Timberlake

Transaction Publishers, 1998 - Business & Economics - 453 pages

Monetary and banking problems in the world today arise not so much from the failure of specific policies as from more deep-seated problems in institutional structures. Individuals clearly make mistakes and legislatures make bad laws, but the institutions from which decisions and laws emanate determine the effectiveness of social operations and the value of social decisions. Unless we change the present institutional structure, we are not likely to get stable solutions to today's most serious problems—ongoing and often erratic inflation and serious banking instability. Money and the Nation State examines the history of modern monetary and banking arrangements, some of the major monetary and banking problems, and options for meaningful reform.

The common theme of all the essays is that current arrangements result less from the accomplishments of great men than man-made institutions that society has inherited—central banks and "the legal and regulatory frameworks that accompany them. The contributors emphasize the impact of political interference on the workings of monetary and financial institutions. Not surprisingly, they find many problems arise because politically generated structures are inappropriate to the real needs of the individuals and groups they are meant to serve. Money and the Nation State provides an essential framework for those willing to return to first principles in thinking about the role of monetary institutions in economic life. Economists, financial theorists, and the interested citizen will find it stimulating reading.

Contents

• I: 1
• II: 21
• III: 47
• IV: 77
• V: 105
• VI: 167
• VII: 192
• VIII: 193
• IX: 213
• X: 247
• XI: 305
• XII: 330
• XIII: 331
• XIV: 351
• XV: 377
• XVI: 403

Popular passages

Page iii - Given the prevailing influence of partisan interests, little social innovation has occurred. In order to understand both the nature of and possible solutions to major public issues, the Independent Institute's program adheres to the highest standards of independent inquiry and is pursued regardless of prevailing political or social biases and conventions. The resulting studies are widely distributed as books and other publications, and publicly debated through numerous conference and media programs.‎

About the author

Kevin Dowd is Yorkshire Bank Professor of Financial Economics and head of the Centre for Research in Financial and Legal Studies at Sheffield Hallam University in England. His books include The State and the Monetary System, The Experience of Free Banking, and Free Banking: The Route to Monetary Stability.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Money and the Nation State: The Financial Revolution, Governement and the World Monetary System; Independent studies in political economy
• Editors: Kevin Dowd, Richard Henry Timberlake
• Contributors: Kevin Dowd, Independent Institute (Oakland, Calif.)
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers, 1998
• ISBN: 1412828953, 9781412828956
• Length: 453 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Banks & Banking; Business & Economics / Money & Monetary Policy; Political Science / Public Policy / Economic Policy