Dominant Currencies and the Future of the Euro

The paper's thesis is that the US dollar, despite the inevitable erosion of market share that it will suffer at the hands of the euro, will remain the most important international currency. The transaction domain of an international currency depends on its ability to lower transaction costs relative to alternative currencies. The EMU financial markets will not be as integrated, and thus as liquid, as the US financial markets for quite some time, thus favoring the use of the dollar as a medium of exchange. Inertia and reputational considerations further favor the dollar. The future value of the exchange rate dollar-euro will depend on economic fundamentals more than on portfolio shifts. Portfolio shifts argue for an appreciation of the euro; but fundamentals can swamp the effects of portfolio shifts. Should the EMU fundamentals reflect the spirit of the Maastricht Treaty and the Growth and Stability Pact, the chances for a euro appreciation will increase. Some caution, however, is in order because the ECB is a new and untested central bank where consensus for a conservative policy may be harder to achieve than can be gleaned from a literal reading of the Maastricht Treaty.     

美国对外负债的可持续性与国际货币体系的未来

要回归到某种形式的固定汇率制度,需要对国际资本流动进行全面且国际性的管制,乃至各国放弃管理货币制度下行使的金融主权。从经济、政治和政策上考虑,这两种要求都无法实现。欧元、日元、人民币甚至把合成货币(SDR)都考虑在内,也难以想像在可以预测的未来(21世纪中叶为止)能够出现替代美元的货币。美国的对外资产和负债之间有正的投资回报差额,这一差额在长期内将一直存在。只要这种回报差额持续存在,并且对外资产和负债占GDP的比率能够按照一定的速度扩大,那么即便美国的贸易收支逆差占GDP的比率维持在4%左右,其对外纯负债占GDP的比重维持稳定状态的可能性也是很大的。因此,以美元为中心的、由多数主要货币构成的现行浮动汇率制度具有很强的可持续性,以至于完全有可能在今后继续存在。     

Euro vs Dollar: An Improbable Threat

Ever since the setting up of the EMU, many scholars have argued that the Euro will take its place alongside the dollar and perhaps even replace it as international money. The theory behind this point of view is represented by search-theoretic models. The fundamental shortcoming of the traditional version of these models is that they fail to make a distinction between different types of money, in particular between commodity money and fiduciary money. In the international context a fiduciary money can be accepted only when a political exchange is possible between a leading country which has an interest in producing trust in the future value of its currency and other countries which attach no importance to the relative gains the issuing country acquires by exploiting the privilege of seigniorage. The Bretton Woods system and the dollar standard, although based on fiduciary monies, have worked thanks to the institutional framework maintained by the United States and accepted by other countries. Unlike the United States, the euro area is not in a position to exercise any form of political leadership on the international scene. As things stand the euro does not represent a threat to the dollar and it is bound to remain a regional money.     

Causes of the financial crisis and the need of monetary cooperation in East Asia

The Main causes of the East Asian financial crisis in 1997–98 can be divided into domestic and foreign ones. The domestic cause stems from structural and liquidity problems, with growing share of non‐performing loans in the financial sector, posing as the most visible manifestation of such problems. On the other side, there is the foreign cause, the sudden fall of the yen against the dollar under the region's unstable foreign exchange system and also its over‐dependency on the dollar. Unfortunately, these causes have not yet disappeared. In order to prevent another financial economic crisis from recurring and to secure the regional currency stability in the long run, an external safety device is indispensable. The purpose of the East Asian monetary cooperation device is not only to absorb the external shocks caused by abrupt changes in the dollar/yen rate and sudden flow of capital, but also to settle international liquidity problems among the regional countries. If a device for the East Asian monetary cooperation is established, transparency in both financial and physical markets will be augmented and in the process, so will be the stability of financial and physical transactions.     

美国量化宽松政策的溢出效应及对中国的影响

次贷危机爆发后,美联储为促进经济复苏,采取了扩张性财政政策和货币政策及非常规的量化宽松政策,向经济注入大量的流动性。现行的国际货币体系是以美元为主导的国际货币体系,美元作为国家货币充当国际货币使得位于中心的美国获得了铸币税,而其它国家则更多地承担了通货膨胀和金融危机的成本。当前美国量化宽松货币政策的溢出效应对中国的影响包括通货膨胀、人民币升值压力和外汇储备的损失。     

Credibility and Interest Rate Discretion in the ERM

Recent proposals for reforming the international monetary system often focus on a target zone arrangement for the dollar, euro and yen. Theoretical research suggests that a credible target zone confers on a participant some short-run discretion in the setting of interest rates, and recent empirical research suggests that this was indeed the case for the Classical gold standard, perhaps the best example of a credible target zone. In this paper we examine the extent of short-run interest rate discretion (SRID) conferred by another experiment with target zones, namely the ERM experience. Amongst our findings is the result that countries that had a credible commitment to the ERM did indeed have SRID.     

Effect of exchange rate return on volatility spill-over across trading regions

This paper examines the effect of realized exchange rate returns on the volatility spill-over between the euro–US dollar and US dollar–yen currency pairs across the five trading regions: Asia, Asia–Europe overlap, Europe, Europe–America overlap and America. Modelling the interaction between returns and volatility in an autoregressive five-equation system, we find evidence that depreciation of the US dollar against the yen has a greater impact on the US dollar–yen volatility spill-over than appreciation in the subprime crisis period. Appreciation and depreciation of the US dollar against the euro does not appear to have an asymmetric effect on the euro–US dollar volatility spill-over. Our results support the notion that the yen may have been preferred to the euro as a ‘safe-haven’ currency relative to the US dollar during the subprime crisis period.     

Monetary Integration In Eastern And Southern Africa: Choosing A Currency Peg For Comesa

African countries involved in monetary integration projects have been advised to peg their currencies against an external anchor before the definite fixing of exchange rates. In this study, we estimate optimum currency area indices to determine, between four alternatives, which international currency would be the most suitable anchor for Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) members and for a set of other selected African economies. We conclude that the euro and the British pound prevail over the US dollar or the yen; that the euro would be the best pegging for most, but not all, COMESA members; and that some of these economies display evidence of more intense integration with third countries, with which they share membership in other (overlapping) regional economic communities, than within COMESA.     

The Euro and the Dollar, 1998

There is no immediate prospect for the euro to become an anchor currency outside Central Europe and the Mediterranean. Still, a successful euro could deepen European financial markets and attract more international investment to the euro area. The prospect of substantial portfolio shifts into the euro, however, does not justify forecasts that the new currency will appreciate against the dollar over an extended time horizon. Liability managers outside the euro area should also find the enhanced liquidity and improved diversification possibilities of euro-denominated debt attractive.     

Is Asian Currency Unit Attractive to East Asian Economies？

Pegging the RMB exchange rate to the Asian currency unit (ACU) has not, at least in the short term, been proved a better solution than pegging to the US dollar or pegging to a G‐3 (US$, Japanese yen and euro) currency basket. Although the Asian currency unit can help Asian economies to keep the relative price of regional currencies stable, the cost of joining a formal regional monetary cooperation is the relinquishment of the autonomy of their domestic policies. Asian monetary cooperation needs to provide more potential benefits if it is to attract Asian economies. We argue that Asian monetary cooperation should be designed to solve the problem of regional trade imbalance, and regional exchange rate policy coordination should be adopted as the first step towards exchange rate cooperation. (Edited by Zhinan Zhang)     

An equilibrium foundation of the Soros chart

The most prominent characteristic of the Japanese yen/U.S. dollar nominal exchange rate in the post-Plaza Accord era is near random-walk behavior sharing a common stochastic trend with the two-country monetary base differential augmented with excess reserves. In this paper, we develop a simple two-country incomplete-market model equipped with domestic reserve markets to structurally investigate this anecdotal evidence known as the Soros chart. In this model, we theoretically verify that a market discount factor close to one generates near random-walk behavior of an equilibrium nominal exchange rate in accordance with a permanent component of the augmented monetary base differential as an economic fundamental. Results of a Bayesian posterior simulation with post-Plaza Accord data of Japan and the United States plausibly support our model as a data generating process of the Japanese yen/U.S. dollar exchange rate. The model identifies the two-country differential in money demand shocks as the main generator of the sharp depreciation of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar under the Abenomics. We discuss data evidence that the identified money demand shocks are tightly correlated with longer-term interest rate differentials between the two countries.     

The euro and its consequences: What makes a currency strong?

The creation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the introduction of the euro was one of the great events in economic history after World War II. The basic attractiveness of the euro is its large and expanding transaction size and the independent central bank which pursues price stability as its primary goal. The basic strength of the dollar is the hysteresis effect based on economies of scale and network externalities. The conclusion in the paper is that at present the hysteresis effect dominates the sheer size effect and the dollar remains the key vehicle currency while the euro has established itself as the second most widely used currency in the world. The euro depreciated against the dollar in the first three years after its introduction. In the paper the euro weakness is explained by the positive growth differential in favor of the U.S. economy caused by the advance in IC-technology and a pick-up in total factor productivity. In the medium run, the outlook for the euro is favorable. The U.S. current account deficit is unsustainable and improvements require a substantial depreciation of the dollar.Distinguished Address presented at the Fifty-Fourth International Atlantic Economic Conference, Washington D.C., October 10–13, 2002.     

The Yield Curve as a Predictor and Emerging Economies

This paper tests whether the slope of the yield curve in emerging economies predicts inflation and growth. It also investigates whether the USA and euro area curves help to predict. It finds that the yield curve in emerging economies contains information for future inflation and growth, with differences across countries being seemingly linked to market liquidity. The US and euro area yield curves are also found to contain information for future inflation and growth in emerging economies. In particular, for those economies with exchange rates pegged to the US dollar, the US yield curve is often a better predictor than the domestic curves and causes their movements. This suggests that monetary policy changes in the USA are drivers of international financial linkages through base interest pass-through and the low end of the yield curve.     

美元“币权”战略与中国之应对

纵观资本主义全球化的发展历史,在商业资本和产业资本阶段,因资本同质性扩张而形成的以对资源地理纵深控制为目标的地缘关系成为了殖民化时代国际关系的核心。自20世纪70年代以来,金融资本愈益成为世界分工和分配的核心,遂使货币权力超越地缘实力,成为金融资本主义时代国家间关系的新枢纽。苏联解体后,美国"单极"霸权赋权于美元,使其无约束地增发并顺势主导了金融资本全球化,这决定了美元霸权成为币缘政治时代国际关系的实质,并衍生出强化美国的全球币缘战略体系,即以美元资本、能源(石油)、食物(粮食)三大霸权为核心的新霸权体系。作者认为,在此背景下方能理解"币权"的时代特征,即以地缘关系为保障、以决定产业链安全的资源定价权为基础、以当代国家政治主权派生的信用体系以及自主的财政货币政策为核心,美元可以在全球经济金融化竞争的资本扩张中获取利益并转嫁成本。对此,中国亟须恢复人民币的主权货币性质,以实体经济为本来推进国内产业纵向一体化战略、"资源重商主义"战略和"新重农主义"战略,并以陆权为基础构建自己币缘战略安全的陆域纵深。     

The enlargement of the euro area: what lessons can be learned from EMU?

This paper investigates what lessons may be learned from EMU for the enlargement of the euro area. It examines the situation of present and prospective EU countries in respect of nominal and real convergence. It suggests that fulfilling the EMU criteria consistently over the next few years will require huge efforts by prospective EU countries, with important output and employment losses. The possibility that present EU countries would have to bear part of these costs cannot be ruled out, with the risk of provoking tensions within the EU, in particular as regards the ‘one-size-fits-all’ monetary policy decisions of the ECB.     

Monetary policy towards E(M)U accession: A central banker's view

This paper gives a brief overview of the main economic issues related to the forthcoming integration of the new EU member countries into the euro area. Subsequently, it will discuss in more detail three broad issues concerning the monetary side of EU enlargement. First addressed is the timing of euro area enlargement and monetary policy regimes in the run up to the EMU. The next focus is on the ERM II as an interim step towards the euro area. Third, the author expresses his views on the future of the ECB and the euro area, which the Czech Republic will have an opportunity to co-determine after its entry. The paper is based on the author's Distinguished Address, as well as the symposium's panel discussion on the topic at the International Atlantic Economic Conference in Vienna, 14 March 2003.     

Optimal currency shares in international reserves: The impact of the euro and the prospects for the dollar

Foreign exchange reserve accumulation has risen dramatically in recent years. The introduction of the euro, greater liquidity in other major currencies, and the rising current account deficits and external debt of the United States have increased the pressure on central banks to diversify away from the US dollar. A major portfolio shift would significantly affect exchange rates and the status of the dollar as the dominant international currency. We develop a dynamic mean-variance optimization framework with portfolio rebalancing costs to estimate optimal portfolio weights among the main international currencies. Making various assumptions on expected currency returns and the variance–covariance structure, we assess how the euro has changed this allocation. We then perform simulations for the optimal currency allocations of four large emerging market countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), adding constraints that reflect a central bank's desire to hold a sizable portion of its portfolio in the currencies of its peg, its foreign debt and its international trade. Our main results are: (i) The optimizer can match the large share of the US dollar in reserves, when the dollar is the reference (risk-free) currency. (ii) The optimum portfolios show a much lower weight for the euro than is observed. This suggests that the euro may already enjoy an enhanced role as an international reserve currency (“punching above its weight”). (iii) Growth in issuance of euro-denominated securities, a rise in euro zone trade with key emerging markets, and increased use of the euro as a currency peg, would all work towards raising the optimal euro shares, with the last factor being quantitatively the most important. J. Japanese Int. Economies 20 (4) (2006) 508–547.     

EMU, Monetary Policy Interactions and Exchange Rate Stability

EMU leads to the elimination of monetary policy coordination failures within the euro area. Whether this translates into more transatlantic exchange rate stability depends on the origin of economic shocks. Martin's (1997) conclusion that EMU will lead to more stable exchange rates is shown to hold for both symmetric and asymmetric shocks in Europe, but not for shocks that originate outside Europe. The results remain valid when taking into account that the pre-EMU era was characterised by a Bundesbank-led ERM, rather than a free float. Finally, the results are checked for a future expansion of the euro area.     

Should East Asia’s currencies be pegged to the yen? The role of invoice currency

Growing concern that a dollar peg exposes East Asian economies to fluctuations in the dollar–yen exchange rate has stimulated research on currency basket regimes as alternatives for these economies. However, existing studies have mostly ignored an important characteristic of East Asia, i.e., most of its international trade is invoiced in the U.S. dollars. This paper investigates how the preponderance of dollar invoicing affects optimal currency basket regimes for East Asian economies. I develop a three-country center-periphery sticky-price dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model for the analysis. The model is solved numerically by taking second-order approximations to the policy functions with the expected lifetime utility of households chosen as the welfare criterion. Contrary to the conjecture of existing literature, I show that predominance of dollar invoicing implies that the dollar should receive a smaller weight than suggested by bilateral trade shares between emerging markets in East Asia and the United States. The results hinge on the interaction of different degrees of pass-through implied by the choice of invoice currency and endogenous responses of monetary policies in the center countries.     

The euro and the monetary union

The Eurosystem established a single monetary policy and has the three guiding principles of independence, transparency, and decentralization. These three principles helped to successfully formulate and implement the euro on 1 January 2002. Major criticisms against establishment of the euro failed to come true and, in fact, the euro has quickly become a major currency in the world. Challenges facing continued success of the euro include structural reforms, financial stability, and the accession of new members to the EU and EMU. TheRobert A. Mundell Distinguished Address presented at the Fifty-Third International Atlantic Economic Conference, March 13–17, 2002, Paris, France.