From 'static' gold to the floating dollar

In this paper we discuss some features of the balance of paymentsposition of the country that issues the key currency under differentinternational monetary standards. The analysis takes a Sraffian‘standpoint’, where the monetary rate of interestof the central country is seen as an independent policy variable.The critical analysis of the theories and experiences of earlierstandards helps us to understand the current ‘floatingdollar standard’ in which the US economy becomes completelyfree of any balance of payments constraint.