An intensely debated issue in international economics concerns the extent to which investors exploit the benefits from international trade in financial assets. Such benefits have long been acknowledged in theory but, despite the continuing process of financial integration and globalization, it...

Many countries have shifted toward freer markets in recent years. This shift is far from complete or free from backsliding, however. Moreover, a number of prominent economists contend that government restrictions should be maintained, or at least kept in reserve, for certain categories of...

On March 18, 1994, the Eastern Economic Association sponsored a roundtable discussion at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, to examine the future of the international monetary system in light of the aims of the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944. The title of the roundtable captured the central...

When the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston chose "Rethinking the International Monetary System" as the topic for its 43rd Economic Conference, it was clear that the worst international financial crisis in decades had caused tremors within the economics profession and the policymaking establishment....

The recent spate of severe financial crises has provoked an interest in international monetary reform not seen since the breakdown of the fixed exchange rate system 30 years ago. Indeed, the crises have forced both academic economists and policymakers to question some of their most basic...