Unit:
Department of History and Philosophy of ScienceLibrary of the School of Science
Author:
Gkravas Konstantinos
Dissertation committee:
1. Γιώργος Γκότσης (Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Φιλοσοφίας της Επιστήμης, ΕΚΠΑ)
2. Σπύρος Βλιάμος (Ομότιμος Καθηγητής, ΕΚΠΑ)
3. Ηλίας Καραγιάννης (Καθηγητής, George Washington University, ΗΠΑ)
4. Σταύρος Δρακόπουλος (Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Φιλοσοφίας της Επιστήμης, ΕΚΠΑ)
5. Παναγιώτης Αλεξάκης (Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Οικονομικών Επιστημών, ΕΚΠΑ)
6. Στέφανος Παπαδάμου (Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Οικονομικών Επιστημών, Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας)
7. Σπυρίδων Ρουκανάς (Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Διεθνών & Ευρωπαϊκών Σπουδών, Πανεπιστήμιο Πειραιώς)
Original Title:
Η επιδίωξη της νομισματικής ειρήνης: Θεσμικές λειτουργίες και ενέργειες των Κεντρικών Τραπεζών κατά τις δεκαετίες 1920 & 30, 1970 & 80 και τη δεκαετία του 2000
Translated title:
The pursuit of monetary peace: Institutional arrangements and Central Banks' actions in the 1920s & 30s, 1970s & 80s and 2000s
Summary:
This doctoral thesis examines the evolution of central banks as powerful institutions in the international economic system, and reviews the political and economic context of international policy cooperation since the ‘first globalization’ in 1876–1914. The thesis extends to the fields of international political economy, economic history and monetary policy. It studies the concept of monetary peace using historical reflection and exploring the most important events that have shaped the evolution of globalization, from the late 19th century and the era of 'first globalization', to the present period and particularly the great financial crisis.
The Wall Street crisis in 1987, as well as the Asian and Latin American crises of the 1990s, has led many scholars to resort to economic history to address these issues. These studies (eg Bordo & Schwartz, Bordo & Eichengreen, Bernanke & James, Eichengreen & Temin), which enriched the academic literature hitherto, emphasized not only economic developments within the US but also internationally, as well as institutional, economic and political factors.
This thesis adopts this complex approach and explores the broader institutional, historical, and economic factors that interact when defining international monetary relations. As Eichengreen puts it, ‘the economic historian’s approach differs in that it pays more attention to context, to politics and to institutions when evaluating both the formulation and effects of monetary policy.’
The main methodological approach followed in the thesis is the case study method. According to Bernanke & Mishkin, ‘first, case studies can help establish the historical and institutional context, an essential first step in good applied work. Second, historical analysis of actual policy experiences is a natural way to find substantive hypotheses that subsequent work can model and test more formally.’
Central banks, as independent financial institutions, have been playing an important role in the global monetary system and the institutional arrangements that have taken place particularly in response to the ‘Great Recession’ of 2007–9, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the perceived risk of a direct collapse of the global financial system. As the lessons of the ‘Great Depression’ were learned by policy makers, monetary peace was the outcome of the coordinated action by central banks among U.S., Germany (Eurozone) and China, in order to maintain the status quo of the US dollar as the leading global reserve currency.
In this context, the thesis studies the pursuit of monetary peace dring the periods of 1920s and 30s, 1970s and 80s, as well as the period of the great financial crisis and the subsequent eurozone sovereign debt crisis.
Main subject category:
Science
Other subject categories:
Social, Political and Economic sciences
Keywords:
Central Banks, Economic History, Crises, Great Depression, Great Recession
Number of references:
225
