Options For The Payments And Exchange Rate System In Eastern Europe

Within the global framework of the major transformation of development models the various contributors to this collection seek to compare the Latin American experiences of macroeconomic changes or adjustments with those of East European countries.

This volume is meant to be a modest contribution to the ongoing debate about the transitions away from the administrative planning environment typical of the former communist regimes. The central subject matter is a fairly special one, namely the privatization of these economies together with the restoration and effective monitoring of property rights. These are paramount tasks of the ongoing transformations once progress toward pOlitical democracy is secured. Though I would not allot divestment of existing state-owned assets the kind of pivotal importance that some observers reserve for it, changing rules on the utilization of these assets is evidently at the core of what the transition toward market-based economic systems should be all about. Rather than examining the entire range of issues that surround the controvery on privatization, this volume is primarily concerned with the economics of taking the state out of the decision making about existing assets. Among the several aspects of this discussion three stand out. One is the establishment of clear property rights. This is fundamental to minimize trans action costs in an environment where decisions will increasingly be taken by independent economic agents acting on their own account. Second, I look only incidentally at the various angles of creating capital markets, particularly for existing assets, in these economies.

Recoge: Summary and Conclusions - 1. Introduction - 2. Preliminaries - 3. Choice of the exchange rate regime - 4. The optimal peg - Appendix 1: An Easter Payments Union and the Independent States - Appendix 2: Private ECU clearing - Appendix 3: The proposal to create an ECU Zone for Eastern Europe.

Based on research commissioned by the European Parliament, this volume allows the economists contributing to offer their own explanations for the collapse of the European Monetary System, with the use of economic models.

Currency convertibility is a far-reaching instrument to facilitate integration into the global economy. With it a country can gain the benefits of increased freedom in capital movements and of fostering trade and financial linkages worldwide. A seminar sponsored by the Arab Monetary Fund and the IMF, held in Marrakesh, Morocco, discussed the theoretical and empirical aspects of currency convertibility in the Arab countries. The volume, edited by Manuel Guitián and Saleh M. Nsouli, reproduces the papers presented at the seminar.

HANSGENBERG An international monetary system should provide a stable and predictable environment for international trade and investment. At the very least, it should not by itself be a source of disturbances in the world economy, and it should be designed so that policy errors or unforeseen shocks are not unduly transmitted between countries. In this perspective, worldwide integration of goods and financial markets present a particular challenge. Such integration increases the cross-border effects of economic policies at the same time as interlocking payments and financial systems transmit financial disturbances rapidly throughout the world. As the degree of integration and interdependence changes over time, is not a foregone conc1usion that international monetary institutions and mechanisms always remain well adapted to the state of the world economy. Occasional review of the performance of the system as well as proposals for improvements are therefore necessary. The contributions to this volume have l been brought together with this in mind.