The US Dollar, the Euro, and the Yen: An Evaluation of Their Present and Future Status as International Currencies

Abstract

During the entire post-World War II period the international monetary and financial system has been shaped to a significant degree by the United States of America having the status of the leading economic power. An impressive indication of this superiority is the fact that the US dollar is acting as the only currency of outstanding international importance. Despite the fact that the Deutsche mark and the Japanese yen internationally gained ground in the course of the last two decades, the US dollar was ahead by a wide margin, and the US acted as the only economy that had to a considerable degree to cope with both the beneficial and the disadvantageous effects emanating from the issuance of an international currency. The process of European integration and especially the introduction of the euro as the single currency for the 12 present member countries of the EU in 1999 may alter this clear currency hierarchy. The euro area is comparable in size to the US with respect to GDP and even exceeds the US regarding the share in world trade. Thus questions arise of whether the international monetary system will turn out to be bipolar in the long run or whether the yen can also play its part.KeywordsMonetary PolicyFinancial MarketEuro AreaEuropean Central BankMoney MarketThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.