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A measurement of asymmetry in the running of the classical gold standard

Authors:

Abstract

The recent crisis in the Eurozone has revived discussions on the adoption of symmetric policies aimed at preventing fundamental disequilibria within systems characterised by fixed exchange rates among different currencies, or by a monetary union, where a single currency has replaced the system’s national currencies, as in the case of the Eurozone itself. In monetary history this debate has often been focussed on previous systems having these features, and in particular on the working of the gold standard: on whether its members pursued, in fact and to what extent, symmetric policies to preserve the system’s stability. In this paper (1) we survey the features of few international monetary systems that have in common symmetry as a balancing factor, and (2) we explore the meaning and consequences of asymmetric monetary policies under the gold standard. (3) We also offer a new measure of asymmetry in the running of the gold standard for the biggest five European economies in the pre-WW1 period (UK, Italy, France, Germany and Spain). We use this measure to draw policy implications deriving from the gold standard constraints.
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  • U K Italy
  • France
Italy UK France Spain Germany How big was the apprehension raYo? Devia<ons of the coverage ra<o from a 35% apprehension ra<o