IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/14488.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Harry Johnson’s “Case for Flexible Exchange Rates†– 50 Years Later

Author

Listed:
  • Obstfeld, Maurice

Abstract

Fifty years ago, Harry G. Johnson published “The Case for Flexible Exchange Rates, 1969,†its title echoing Milton Friedman’s earlier classic essay of the early 1950s. Though somewhat forgotten today, Johnson’s reprise was an important element in the late 1960s debate over the future of the international monetary system. The present paper has three objectives. The first is to lay out the historical context in which Johnson’s “Case†was written and read. The second is to examine Johnson’s main points and see how they stand up to nearly five decades of experience with floating exchange rates since the end of the Bretton Woods system. The third is to review the most recent academic critiques of exchange-rate flexibility and ask how fatal they are to Johnson’s basic argument. I conclude that the essential case for exchange rate flexibility still stands strong.

Suggested Citation

  • Obstfeld, Maurice, 2020. "Harry Johnson’s “Case for Flexible Exchange Rates†– 50 Years Later," CEPR Discussion Papers 14488, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14488
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP14488
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rebecca Hellerstein, 2011. "Global bond risk premiums," Staff Reports 499, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    2. Cook, David & Devereux, Michael B, 2016. "Exchange rate flexibility under the zero lower bound," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 52-69.
    3. Del Negro, Marco & Giannone, Domenico & Giannoni, Marc P. & Tambalotti, Andrea, 2019. "Global trends in interest rates," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 248-262.
    4. Ricardo J Caballero & Emmanuel Farhi & Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, 2021. "Global Imbalances and Policy Wars at the Zero Lower Bound [“Safe Assets”]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(6), pages 2570-2621.
    5. Obstfeld, Maurice, 2002. "Exchange Rates and Adjustment: Perspectives from the New Open- Economy Macroeconomics," Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan, vol. 20(S1), pages 23-46, December.
    6. C. Fred Bergsten & Joseph E. Gagnon, 2017. "Currency Conflict and Trade Policy: A New Strategy for the United States," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 7267, January.
    7. S Broadberry & Nicholas Crafts, 1996. "British Economic Policy and Industrial Performance in the Early Post-War Period," CEP Discussion Papers dp0292, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. David Laidler & William B.P. Robson, 2004. "Two Percent Target: The Context, Theory, and Practice of Canadian Monetary Policy since 1991," C.D. Howe Institute Policy Studies, C.D. Howe Institute, number 20041, January.
    9. Ethan Ilzetzki & Carmen M Reinhart & Kenneth S Rogoff, 2019. "Exchange Arrangements Entering the Twenty-First Century: Which Anchor will Hold?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 599-646.
    10. Corsetti, Giancarlo & Crowley, Meredith & Han, Lu, 2022. "Invoicing and the dynamics of pricing-to-market: Evidence from UK export prices around the Brexit referendum," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    11. David Laidler & William B.P. Robson, 2004. "Two Percent Target: The Context, Theory, and Practice of Canadian Monetary Policy since 1991," C.D. Howe Institute Policy Studies, C.D. Howe Institute, number 2004, January.
    12. Stephanie Schmitt-Grohé & Martín Uribe, 2016. "Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity, Currency Pegs, and Involuntary Unemployment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(5), pages 1466-1514.
    13. Eichengreen, Barry & Sachs, Jeffrey, 1985. "Exchange Rates and Economic Recovery in the 1930s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 925-946, December.
    14. Hartmann,Philipp & Huang,Haizhou & Schoenmaker,Dirk (ed.), 2018. "The Changing Fortunes of Central Banking," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108423847, October.
    15. Lars E.O. Svensson, 2003. "Escaping from a Liquidity Trap and Deflation: The Foolproof Way and Others," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 145-166, Fall.
    16. Schenk,Catherine R., 2013. "The Decline of Sterling," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107612990, October.
    17. Harry G. Johnson, 1969. "The case for flexible exchange rates, 1969," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 51(June), pages 12-24.
    18. Adler, Gustavo & Meleshchuk, Sergii & Buitron, Carolina Osorio, 2023. "Global value chains and external adjustment: Do exchange rates still matter?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    19. Charles Engel, 2016. "Exchange Rates, Interest Rates, and the Risk Premium," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(2), pages 436-474, February.
    20. Scott Newton, 2009. "The two sterling crises of 1964 and the decision not to devalue1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(1), pages 73-98, February.
    21. John F. O. Bilson & Richard C. Marston, 1984. "Exchange Rate Theory and Practice," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number bils84-1.
    22. Michael D. Bordo & Claudia Goldin & Eugene N. White, 1998. "The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number bord98-1.
    23. Vitor Gaspar & Maurice Obstfeld & Ratna Sahay & Douglas Laxton & Dennis P Botman & Kevin Clinton & Romain A Duval & Kotaro Ishi & Zoltan Jakab & Laura Jaramillo & Constant A Lonkeng Ngouana & Tommaso , 2016. "Macroeconomic Management When Policy Space is Constrained; A Comprehensive, Consistent and Coordinated Approach to Economic Policy," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 16/09, International Monetary Fund.
    24. Valentina Bruno & Hyun Song Shin, 2015. "Cross-Border Banking and Global Liquidity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 82(2), pages 535-564.
    25. Georgiadis, Georgios & Gräb, Johannes & Khalil, Makram, 2019. "Global value chain participation and exchange rate pass-through," Working Paper Series 2327, European Central Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Richard T. Froyen & Alfred V. Guender, 2022. "The Mundellian Trilemma and Optimal Monetary Policy in a World of High Capital Mobility," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 631-656, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maurice Obstfeld, 2020. "Harry Johnson's “Case for flexible exchange rates”—50 years later," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(S1), pages 86-113, September.
    2. Kuester, Keith & Corsetti, Giancarlo & Müller, Gernot & Schmidt, Sebastian, 2021. "The Exchange Rate Insulation Puzzle," CEPR Discussion Papers 15689, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Georgiadis, Georgios & Schumann, Ben, 2021. "Dominant-currency pricing and the global output spillovers from US dollar appreciation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Kumhof, Michael & Sokol, Andrej & Rungcharoenkitkul, Phurichai, 2020. "How Does International Capital Flow?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15526, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Potjagailo, Galina & Wolters, Maik H., 2023. "Global financial cycles since 1880," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    6. Pierre-Richard Agénor & Timothy P. Jackson & Luiz Pereira da Silva, 2020. "Foreign Exchange Intervention and Financial Stability," Working Papers 202027, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    7. Georgiadis, Georgios & Müller, Gernot J. & Schumann, Ben, 2024. "Global risk and the dollar," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Terrones, Marco E., 2020. "Do fixers perform worse than non-fixers during global recessions and recoveries?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    9. Fisera, Boris, 2024. "Exchange rates and the speed of economic recovery: The role of financial development," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(1).
    10. Maurice Obstfeld, 2020. "Global Dimensions of U.S. Monetary Policy," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 16(1), pages 73-132, February.
    11. Lodge, David & Pérez, Javier J. & Albrizio, Silvia & Everett, Mary & De Bandt, Olivier & Georgiadis, Georgios & Ca' Zorzi, Michele & Lastauskas, Povilas & Carluccio, Juan & Parrága, Susana & Carvalho,, 2021. "The implications of globalisation for the ECB monetary policy strategy," Occasional Paper Series 263, European Central Bank.
    12. Lawrence L. Kreicher & Robert N. McCauley, 2021. "Managing the Dollar Over Its Cycles," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 49(2), pages 143-158, June.
    13. Loipersberger, Florian & Matschke, Johannes, 2022. "Financial cycles and domestic policy choices," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    14. Das, Mitali & Ordal, Hailey, 2022. "Macroeconomic stability or financial stability: How are capital controls used? Insights from a new database," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    15. Sumner, Scott, 2020. "Currency Manipulation, Saving Manipulation, and the Current Account Balance," Working Papers 07761, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    16. Pierre Olivier Gourinchas, 2023. "International Macroeconomics: From the Great Financial Crisis to COVID-19, and Beyond," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(1), pages 1-34, March.
    17. Masashige Hamano & Francesco Pappadà, 2023. "Exchange Rate Policy and Firm Heterogeneity," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(3), pages 759-790, September.
    18. Georgios Georgiadis & Feng Zhu, 2019. "Monetary policy spillovers, capital controls and exchange rate flexibility, and the financial channel of exchange rates," BIS Working Papers 797, Bank for International Settlements.
    19. Barry Eichengreen & Chitu Livia & Arnaud Mehl, 2014. "Stability or upheaval? The currency composition of international reserves in the long run," Globalization Institute Working Papers 201, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    20. Matteo Maggiori & Brent Neiman & Jesse Schreger, 2019. "The Rise of the Dollar and Fall of the Euro as International Currencies," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 521-526, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Exchange rate regimes; Floating exchange rates; International monetary system; Effective lower bound; Global value chains; Global financial cycle; Dominant currency pricing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N24 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: 1913-

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14488. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.