Fixed Ideas of Money: Small States And Exchange Rate Regimes In Twentieth-Century Europe

Studies in Macroeconomic History

by Tobias Straumann

Most European countries are rather small, yet we know little about their monetary history. This book analyses for the first time the experience of seven small states (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland) during the last hundred years, starting with the restoration of the gold standard after World War I and ending with Sweden’s rejection of the Euro in 2003. The comparative analysis shows that for the most part of the twentieth century the options of policy makers were seriously constrained by a distinct fear of floating exchange rates. Only with the crisis of the European Monetary System (EMS) in 1992–93 did the idea that a flexible exchange rate regime was suited for a small open economy gain currency. The book also analyses the differences among small states and concludes that economic structures or foreign policy orientations were far more important for the timing of regime changes than domestic institutions and policies.

414 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2010

About the author

Tobias Straumann, born in 1966, is an economic historian and titular professor of modern history at the University of Zurich. He studied in Bielefeld, Paris and Zurich, was a senior lecturer at the University of Lausanne and spent visiting semesters at the University of California at Berkeley, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Oxford.