Leaving foreign exchange markets to themselves may not lead to realistic and stable exchange rates. Thus appropriate criteria for interference must be defined. The OPTICA (Optimal Currency Area) Group which was appointed by the European Commission tried to work out appropriate rules for the EC....

The discussion about the international monetary system has revived in recent months. Has the changeover to floating exchange rates in 1973 not fulfilled the expectations it aroused? How should the present proposals for the reform of exchange rate policy be assessed?

Recently, the calls for closer monetary co-operation between the Asian NICs and Japan have been becoming louder. The following article discusses the pros and cons of pegging to the yen and compares them with those of a basket peg.

In the debate about the world monetary order there is agreement that greater stability in international currency relationships would be desirable. Could a system of fixed exchange rates between the currencies of the major industrial countries put an end to the present instability? What would be...