Dynamic Stability and Changes in International Monetary Regimes

ABSTRACT In this paper the author discusses the dynamics of the international monetary regimes. In opposition to mainstream economics, these regimes are seen as irreversible historical institutions characterized by a structural instability. They are defined by the degree of exchange rate rigidity, by the mobility of capitals, and by weight of internal objectives in the preference function of governments. Their dynamics is based on an irreversible sequence defined by the increasing degradation of macroeconomic adjustments, leading to the accumulation of tensions and to a structural instability, as the world economy changes, and finally to questioning the founding principles of the international monetary regime.