2003
Stemming Job Losses, Washington Post, by David Broder
This article does not mention the Single Global Currency, but it should as it’s about how manufacturing jobs have moved from the U.S. to China and other countries, partly because of the undervaluing of non-U.S. currencies. The cost of labor and production will be lower than in the U.S. or in Europe for a long time worldwide living standards become more equal, but the fluctuation of currency values need not worsen the situation.
(Washington Post, Sunday, August 31, 2003; Page B07)
World
Money at the Palazzo Mundell, Wall Street Journal, by Robert Bartley
In his “Thinking Things Over” column, Robert Bartley describes
this year’s gathering of leaders of our financial world at Professor
Robert Mundell’s castle near Sienna, Italy. The article
cites the support of Paul Volcker for the single global currency
as well as that of the host, a Nobel Economics Prize winner.
Bartley reported that Professor Mundell plans to rais the issue
of a single global currency at the September meeting of the IMF
in Dubai.) 6/30/2003
Bush’s Dollar Gamble, Washington Post, by Robert Samuelson
Samuelson explains the great risks in permitting the dollar to drop in its value against other currencies, such as the euro. One such risk is that foreign investors will reduce their purchases of U.S. stocks and U.S. Treasury notes. (Washington Post, 21 May 2003)
Britain, Europe & the Euro – 2003
by A. Caversham
"…It is a step towards the inevitability of a single global currency. It is preferable to be prepared for the inevitable in good time rather than have it forced upon one at the last minute. Leading IT business consultant Robin Bloor predicts that ‘ultimately, there is room only for a single world currency…. If there is any attempt to impose more than one, then the more stable currency will drive out the less stable. A national currency will come to be seen as a tax on international transactions and where tax can be avoided, it will.’ " (web article, May, 2003, with pro and con arguments for the euro, including this paragraph)
2002
SHOULD THE U.S. EXCHANGE THE DOLLAR FOR THE EURODOLLAR
by Adrian Taylor, Voter News Network
"……A Single Currency Increases Economic Efficiency
First, a single currency reduces the transaction costs of selling and buying goods because you do not have to convert money from one currency to another. Multinational corporations would see a dramatic reduction in the costs of managing operating revenues.
Second, a single currency increases the transparency of prices. For an example: Each state in the United States operates under a single currency, (the U.S. dollar). Therefore, whether you buy or sell goods in Alabama or New York, consumers can compare prices in the United States in a single currency.
Compare that with Europe, which until recently, if some consumer wanted to compare prices, he would have to compare prices in fourteen different currencies.
Third, a single currency would eliminate exchange rate risk. Foreign exchange risks and the costs of hedging these risks are a major concern of multinational corporations. Having a single currency can eliminate foreign exchange risk.
Fourth, moving to a single currency would also create the need for a Global Central Bank not controlled by any single government. The Global Central Bank would oversee the currency union. Such a central bank could easier focus on controlling prices and fighting inflation.
When a currency union exists, countries can no longer use devaluations as part of their economic policy to gain an advantage over other countries…." (From the ARCHIVES, August 2002 Volume 2 Issue 8)
A
Review of the works of George Soros, including The
Alchemy of Finance
Patricia A. Alvarez, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, reviews
the works of George Soros, especially his book “The Alchemey of
Finance” in which he advocated the establishment of an international
central bank and a single global currency.
(From “The History Teacher”, Vol 35, No. 2, Feb 2002, Understanding Globalization)
A conversation with John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, authors of
A FUTURE PERFECT: The Challenge and Hidden Promise of Globalization
"….Will we ever have a single global currency? Would it be a good idea to have one?
The idea of a single international currency was actually discussed prior to the post-World War II Bretton Woods conference. In theory, it would put an end to capital flights, competitive devaluation and inflation; above all it would make it more difficult for governments to intervene in business people’s lives. But the problem lies with the practicality of this solution. It has taken Europe centuries to produce a single currency. And it is hard to see countries at different stages of development and different positions in the economic cycle converging on the same currency. It is much more likely that the world will develop into three regional currency blocks – a dollar zone, a yen zone and the Euro zone. " (The date of this interview was not given on the web site, but is presumed to be 2000 because of the reference to the U.S. presidential election and the 1999 Seattle WTO meeting.)
2001
J.P. Morgan/Chase
chief economist supports Single Global Currency
In an interview titled, "A Dialogue on Global Currency",
in a J.P. Morgan/Chase magazine, the bank’s chief economist, John
Lipsky, states his own preference for a single global currency.
The magazine also interviewed Robert Mundell, who was then advocating
the interim step of linking the world’s major currencies.
Lipsky stated, "If well-managed a single global currency
could promote credible long-term price stability, improving the
global economy’s efficiency and productivity." (from
J.P. Morgan Chase’s "Thought" Magazine, Fall, 2001)
"Sustainable Finance: Seeking Global Financial Security"
"Global Innovation
In terms of new ideas for enhancing financial sustainability,
at one end of the spectrum there are calls for reform of existing
institutions and instruments, while at the other we find advocates
of entirely new structures. These suggestions are not necessarily
mutually exclusive since new approaches may actually compliment
existing ones. Some examples of short and long term proposals
for international, corporate and national institutions, are outlined
below:
1. New Global Ideas
Long term: Certain institutional proposals exist to further strengthen
the social and environmental tiers of sustainability, such as
creating a World Development Organisation and World Environment
Organisation (Dodds 2000). These ideas raise the question as to
whether such institutions would bring any better results than
those currently in existence. Existing institutions could be improved
through greater coordination of financial aims, removing unnecessary
crossover and enhancing their specific areas of jurisdiction,
in support of more sustainable use of funds. Regional coordination
could also be enhanced along the lines of the Lome Convention
between European and ACP states. Regarding new long term instruments,
the idea of a single Global
Currency has been around for a long time. Prior
to the establishment of the Bretton Woods Institutions Keynes
had considered such a currency, called a Bancor. It would require
an global clearing house to manage a “system of international
exchange in which the trading of goods and services, will be the
central feature, financial and capital transactions will play
their proper auxiliary role of facilitating trade”. Suggested
examples of global currencies include a Fiat Currency , Commodity-valued
Reference Currency and Commodity-Backed Reference Currency . The
aims would be similar to that of regional equivalents (such as
the Euro) i.e. short-term price stability and long term financial
and trade balance. It would require sufficient power to regulate
excessive speculation and encourage prudent behaviour (Leitaer
2000). (by Rosalie Gardiner, August 2001, written for
the United Nations in preparation for the Earch 2002 Summit Conference.)
Problems and Reforms of the International Monetary System by Dominick Salvatore, Fordham University. A Paper prepared for the July 17, 2001 meeting of the G8 Research Group.
This 24 page, double-spaced, paper provides an excellent summary of the current system and the various recommendations for change. Professor Salvatore mentions the single global currency as a possible solution recommended by "Cooper and Mundell", but he did not analyze its utility or feasibility.
Malaysian Prime Minister Supports Single Global Currency
"TOKYO (Nikkei)–Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday proposed the creation of a single international currency that would anchor global trade.
The currency, in which banking reserves would be held, should belong ‘to no one country,’ Mahathir said in a speech here at the Future of Asia conference sponsored by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc." (9 June 2001, Nikkei Net)
Australian
Labor Magazine Article Supports SGC
Article in Australian Online Magazine for labor movement, “WorkerNet”
discussing need for single global currency, and noting that the
U.S. dollar is a likely choice; but doubting that the U.S. government
would accede to world demands for a shared management of the dollar.
("Currency Unification: Dollarize or Die?" Worker
Online, 27 April 2001)
One
U.S. Congressman sees Single Global Currency in World’s Future
U.S. Congressman Robert Paul stated, “There is nothing to fear
from globalism, free trade, and and a single worldwide currency.”
(Congressional Record, 13 March 2001)
World
Economic Forum on whether world needs a Global Currency
Annual meeting of the world economic forum, featuring Robert Mundell
and Jacob Frankel. Mundell speaks for uniting the dollar, euro
and yen as the single global currency.
2000
"Devaluation and Proposed Stabilization of the Euro" is the title of this remarkable paper by Matt Cohen, then a student at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, USA.
The paper is actually a review of the euro’s development and contains predictions of its future strengthening against the dollar. Also, it notes that the euro is a preview for the single global currency. He wrote, "Eventually, for globalization to have achieved its goals, a global currency will be required. The euro is a step in the direction of a world currency. While there are certain drawbacks of a common currency, the benefits outweigh them. All of Europe, and the world, will benefit from decreased transaction costs, increased mobility of goods and resources and increased productivity." (Social Science 410, November 2000)
Herbert Grubel expands upon his 1993 proposal for monetary union with the "amero". he covers the issue of monetary union and Mundell’s "optimum currency area", generally, and then the specifics of monetary union for Canada, Mexico and the United States.
("North American Monetary Union, A New Look at the Theory of Optimum Currency Areas" by Herbert Grubel. Presented at the conference "honoring the intellectual contributions of Professor Robert Z. Aliber, October 20-21 at the University of Chicago.)
1999
The Bahai faith supports a Single Global Currency
The article states, "A single currency would in some respects be like a world language, improving communications around the globe. It would eliminate the present problems of speculation, instability and uncertainty and would provide a strong foundation for the growing world economy. It would reduce a significant cost and risk of doing business internationally." (“One World, One Currency”, in "One Country", the Online Newsletter of the Bahai faith. Jan-March, 1999)
Recommendations
for International Monetary Reform, including SGC by Robert Guttmann.
In testimony before the German Bundestag, Professor Robert Guttmann
stated
"Both structural flaws of the IMS [International Monetary System] can be resolved by one decisive move, namely instituting a single global currency for all international transactions."
U.S. Treasury
Sees SGC in Long Term Future
Remarks by Edwin Truman, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury,
at a conference in Japan, where he noted that a single global
currency may well come in the 21st century, but not soon. (From
the office of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury,
6 December 1999.)
The ‘End of Economics’? It’s Not That Simple
MONEY By Reginald Dale
"….The two tendencies will both continue in the years ahead. Pressures on people to assert their local identities will grow as economic blocs expand further and more and more countries join currency unions. Some people, such as the 1999 Nobel economics prizewinner, Robert Mundell, are already talking happily of a single global currency and central bank.
That is a non-starter for now. Just think of the United States allowing its interest rates to be set by a bank, chaired by a foreigner, of which more than 200 other countries were members. But it is a fair bet that the number of world currencies will decline in the years ahead and that further progress will be made toward global free trade." (International Herald Tribune, 3 December 1999)
by Even Downing
"….Beyond smart cards, some see even more dramatic changes in the nature of money over the long term. One British think-tank predicts that by 2020, we’ll be using a single global currency, common to all nations.
“That’s possible, for sure,” says Negroponte. “But the opposite will happen as well-a vast array of digital currencies will evolve, issued by all sorts of entities, not just nation states.” Examples include store-based loyalty points or kids’ cash as well as tiny closed currencies specific to a town or region….." (Spectrum, from MIT, [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]Winter, 1999)
The Search for Global Monetary Order
A visitor’s review of the October 1999 Cato Institute Monetary Conference
Summarized comments of Judy Shelton DUXX Institute in Mexico, "In concept, the problem could be solved in a straightforward manner. The governments of individual nations could agree to establish a global economy. There are logical procedures and historical precedents for doing so.
One way would be to set up a single global currency managed by a global central bank. Not to oversimplify the actual process, but the critical driving points would be to achieve international agreement on the objective, identify the key phases of transition, and then map out a timetable for execution. Europe’s move to a single currency shows that political cooperation among national governments is indeed possible; a larger-scale initiative aimed at achieving a single global currency would undoubtedly benefit from Europe’s experience and could likely proceed more rapidly. Global monetary union (GMU) would transcend European objectives in imposing political and financial conditions for a new common currency." (For the formal agenda of the conference, see Agenda, Cato Monetary Conference 1999.)
by Lee Roth, The College of New Jersey, USA
"….Knowing this, the next logical step would seem to be a single, global currency. The introduction of the euro is a start towards economic consolidation. Although a far cry from one worldwide form of money, the tying together of 11 of Europe’s currencies is a significant start. With the health of the world’s economies as questionable as it is, this may seem much easier in theory than in practice. However, some experts believe that it is both a possibility and a probability.
David Gardner, co-founder of online financial information site The Motley Fool, believes ‘One day, as long as our society is not consumed by alien invasion, airborne virus or nuclear war, there will be one currency and one stock market.’…. " (from an undated website, perhaps 1999, from the College of New Jersey.)
1998
Currency Chaos, from the MAC Observer
by Wes George
" The whole monetary crisis thing is really underrated, probably because no one but George Soros and economic professors, and not all of them, even really understand it. I know I don’t.
Here’s what I do understand. The high stock values on Wall Street and in the European bourses are based on the hope that the emerging global economy will be very, very good to business. Free trade across formerly closed or tariffed borders means far more efficiency in the economy leading to higher productivity and swelling profits. The problem is every sovereign state issues it’s own fiat currency at the whim of their central bankers who hark to the clarion call of politics, nationalism and/or corruption. It’s as if the economy of the U.S. were based on fifty different state currencies – some floating, some pegged, some not worth the paper they’re printed on. The fact is that the world economy doesn’t need more than a handful of currencies to operate. A single global currency would be the ideal “best of all worlds” situation. This, of course, is not politically possible. Already the economies of many countries are based on the underground exchange of dollars. Take the farce of the Mexican peso as an example. According to the Wall street Journal, “The price of the dollar in pesos has increased by 81,000 percent in the last 22 years; inflation has averaged 37 percent per annum in the same period. The stable peso of the 1960’s has lost 99.8 percent of its value.” The average interest rate in Mexico is about 47 percent. The scary thing is that the state of the peso is the rule, not the exception, in the developing world." (November 9, 1998)
“One
World, One Money” from the Economist Magazine (PDF)
Wrote the Economist, “A global currency is not a new idea, but
it may soon get a new lease on life.” (The Economist, Sept
1998)
ECONOMICS MADE EASY Capital controls, interventions and what they mean to free markets, by Tim Healy
In an article following the East Asia
financial crisis, explains how it developed. At the end, he wrote,
"Until the day a single global currency takes root (unlikely
anytime soon, mostly for nationalistic reasons) currency markets
remain the best early-warning systems available to alert governments
of economic weaknesses that need attention. "
(Asia Week, 18 September 1998)
Future of finance is real eye-opener
"….Barclays has commissioned the Henley Centre for Forecasting, the think-tank, to produce a report entitled 2020 Vision, a prediction of life in the year 2020. It forecasts not a single European currency, but a single global currency, or at least the planning of one. Graeme Leach, a director at Henley, says: “We have taken the clear trends visible today and projected them into the future, and we think they have a high level of validity. The single currency is one…." (Financial Times, London, 4/26/98)
1995
Review
of Robert Guttmann’s book, supporting SGC
In this review of "How credit-money shapes the economy",
by Robert Guttmann, James K. Galbraith, notes that Robert Guttman
supports the establishment of a single global currency and proposes
an intermediate single international credit system. (Journal
of Economic Literature; 33(4), December 1995, pages 1989-1990.)
