Author Description

In 1973, the world moved from fixed exchange rates, pegged to the gold standard or an agreed-upon currency, to the floating system of flexible exchange rates, constrained only by the occasional intervention of the central banks of various nations. The eighteen essays in this book explore what the shift has meant for world economic interdependence and seek to clarify what has become an extremely complex system. All but two are published here for the first time. Following Rudiger Dornbusch's Foreword, Jacob A. Frenkel reviews the history of flexible exchange rates. Remaining sections of the book take up exchange rate determination, the transmission of disturbances as exemplified by the oil crises of the 1970s, the policy implications of economic interdependence, and a selection of simulation studies based on models of various size and design. Contributors include Alan V. Deardorff, J. David Richardson, Jeffrey Sachs, Robert M. Stern, Pentti J. K. Kouri, William H. Branson, Willem H. Buiter; and Michael R. Darby, among other distinguished economists. Jagdeep Bhandari is affiliated with George Mason University, Bluford Putnam with the Economics Group of Chase Manhattan Bank, and Jay Levin with Wayne State University.