Economic Policy , Exchange Rates And The International System

In an outstanding account of exchange rates inthe international monetary system, W. Max Corden considers the essential issues in international macroeconomics. The author takes as his model the macroeconomic situation of a country with an open economy, and explains the effects of domestic fiscal and monetary macroeconomic policy on exchange rates. He clearly analyses the choices faced by governments attempting to manage both the domestic inflation rate and the external exchange rate and current account balance. Professor Corden then discusses the European Exchange Rate mechanism, and provides a sceptical analysis of the possibilities for monetary union in Europe, and for international policy coordination in general. He gives equal weight to discussion of the present US-centred international monetary system outside the ERM, and combines theoretical models with an account of the actual determination of floating exchange rates. Although the book itself is orientated towards monetary rather than trade issues, the author discusses two topical issues: the role of protectionist policies, and the idea of competitiveness. Finally, he looks at the future of the international monetary system and the series of current reform proposals. Students will find this book useful because the author covers essential issues lucidly and authoritatively. The exposition is entirely non-mathematical. Postgraduate students and academics will be interested since Corden is a distinguished writer on international trade and policy, and his arguments are powerfully presented. New to this edition: This is a revised and expanded edition of a previous book by Corden, Inflation, Exchange Rates and the World Economy, the third edition of which was published in 1985. In this new book, Professor Corden has fully rewritten the text, but retains the discursive, informal, reader-friendly style of the earlier editions. In this new edition, Professor Corden has included two new chapters which extend the treatment of macroeconomic policy, separating it into its fiscal and monetary branches. He also includes a new chapter on the role of the current account balance in determining macroeconomic policy. The author has brought his account of the present international monetary context up to date - characterised as the non-system - and has included a new analysis of European monetary issues, incorporating a review of the progress of the EMS towards full monetary union. The book also contains a provocative discussion of two highly topical issues: trade protection, and competitiveness, including both new theoretical analysis and such events as the recent GATT agreement.

W. Max Corden is at Johns Hopkins University, Washington.