Exchange Rate Regimes in the Modern Era

The exchange rate is sometimes called the most important price in a highly globalized world. A country's choice between government-managed fixed rates and market-determined floating rates has significant implications for monetary policy, trade, and macroeconomic outcomes, and is the subject of both academic and policy debate. In this book, two leading economists examine the operation and consequences of exchange rate regimes in an era of increasing international interdependence. Michael Klein and Jay Shambaugh focus on the evolution of exchange rate regimes since 1973, identifying the period following the Bretton Woods Agreement (which itself followed the pre-World War I gold standard era) as "the modern era" in international exchange rate regimes. The modern era is marked by a wide variety of experiences with exchange rate regimes, both across and within countries, providing a rich body of data for studying the economic effects of these exchange rate regimes. Klein and Shambaugh offer a comprehensive, integrated treatment of the period. The book draws on and synthesizes data from the recent wave of empirical research on this topic, and includes new findings that challenge preconceived notions about exchange rate regimes and their effects.