Discipline or External Balance? The Choice of International Monetary Systems in Europe

Abstract

While there is a huge literature on exchange rate systems since the classical gold standard, less research has been devoted to comparisons of the different arguments that guided the choices. While the origin of the international gold standard in the 1870s was a result of silver coins disappearing from circulation due to rising silver prices, the gold standard has later been interpreted as a quest for monetary discipline. This discipline argument was introduced by the end of WWI as a support for a restoration of the gold standard. Its failure led to an emphasis on the need to avoid external imbalances, which came to the fore in the preparations of the Bretton Woods system. The balance argument was also central in the early discussions of a monetary union in Europe, but with the critique of Keynesianism it was superseded by the disciplinary argument which became determinant for the design of EMU.