The Basel Accords, while extremely influential, are oftentimes too detailed and technical to be easily accessible to the nontechnical policymaker or interested scholar. This paper looks to fill that gap by detailing the origin, regulation, implementation, criticism, and results of both Basel I...

The article analyses recent tendencies in the monetary system with an emphasis on events taking place in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states. The importance of these countries goes far beyond oil deliveries as their surpluses stemming from oil export have become a key pillar in...

We develop a simple model that highlights the costs and benefits of fixed exchange rates as they relate to trade, and show that negative export-price shocks reduce fiscal revenue and increase the likelihood of an expected currency devaluation. Using a new high-frequency data set on...

We use the demise of silver-based standards in the 19th century to explore price dynamics when a commodity-based money ceases to function as a global unit of account. We develop a general equilibrium model of the global economy with gold and silver money. Calibration of the model shows that...

This Article examines the International Monetary Fund's recent efforts to play an assertive regulatory role with regard to global capital flows. There is a growing consensus among scholars and policymakers that states must carefully manage capital flows and coordinate their policies for doing...

China's exchange rate regime has undergone gradual reform since the move away from a fixed exchange rate in 2005. The renminbi has become more flexible over time but is still carefully managed, and depth and liquidity in the onshore FX market is relatively low compared to other countries with de...

The interwar gold standard is long thought to have prevented central bankers from running an independent monetary policy, forcing governments to leave this fixed exchange rate system in order to take control over domestic policy. But our study of the day-to-day management of monetary policy in...

In earlier times, societies relied extensively on “ (“I owe you”) to avert the need for settlement in specie. However, an IOU reliant economy is complex and fraught with financial stability risks. These problems can be overcome through clearing, netting and settlement, either without or...

This paper assesses whether the international monetary system is already tripolar and centred around the US dollar, the euro and the Chinese renminbi (RMB). It focuses on what we call China's “dominance hypothesis”, i.e. whether the renminbi is already the dominant currency in Asia, exerting...

What is the governing law for loan agreements entered into by the World Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) in carrying out their public sector lending? That question was first definitively addressed about thirty-five years ago. This article examines the question anew, against...