Should central banks intervene in currency markets? In theory, within a flexible system, central banks should leave the process of determining appropriate exchange rates to the currency markets. In practice, however, central banks have frequently intervened to 'manage' the exchange rates...

The Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates was abandoned at the beginning of March 1973 when currencies were allowed to float. Has the system of flexible exchange rates fulfilled the expectations placed in it? How should experiences with regional systems of fixed exchange rates be...

Exchange rate volatility and long-term distortions of exchange rate levels have given rise to concern among participants in international trade. Do exchange rate fluctuations have an adverse impact on the volume of trade? What measures could be taken to achieve greater exchange rate stability?

The position taken by politicians and important pressure groups in Germany concerning EMU will depend to a large extent on its labour market implications - and thus on the (perceived) impact of exchange rate variability on employment and unemployment. Most economists would assume this impact to...

In his article on "Germany's Stake in Exchange Rate Stability" (INTERECONOMICS, September/October 1996), Daniel Gros recently wrote that, as he sees it, the exchange rate volatility of the D-Mark against the other European currencies has a causal impact on the German unemployment rate. In the...

The exchange rate of the US dollar fell sharply last year. What part was played by the adverse "fundamentals" of the US economy, the large current account deficit, the country’s heavy foreign indebtedness and the substantial budget deficit? How will the dollar behave in future?

Contrary to the expectations of those who advocated flexible exchange rates prior to 1973, Williamson, in his study on exchange rate flexibility and reserve use, presented data which suggested “the paradoxical conclusion that reserve use actually increased following the adoption of...